The First Avatar
by Teffianne
Summary: Who was the first Avatar?  How did the Avatar come into being?  What happened to the energybenders?  All these questions to be answered here! Please R&R
1. Prologue: The Time before the Avatar

**Disclaimer: I own the characters, not the universe. **

"Daddy. Tell me the story of the first Avatar." A small girl asked as she was tucked in bed by her father.

"It's a long one, are you sure?" Her father asked.

"Yes. Please!" The girl begged.

"Alright, but we have to understand the first Avatar we have to go back to the time before the Avatar. A time where people didn't bend the elements, but bent the energy within themselves." The girl sat with big eyes waiting for her father to begin.

"The energybenders were always considered to be leaders with high spiritual and powerful abilities. Many ordinary people envied their abilities and begged them to bend their energy to give them abilities. One such energybender accepted the task along with three others. However, the Lion Turtles, whom the energybenders had learned their abilities from, disapproved of this plan because energybending cannot be given to those unworthy and unfit to handle its power. The benders disagreed and thought it should be fair for everyone to be able to bend. With his three companions the four benders connected to the minds of those who had gathered to learn bending but the four benders could not control it and the result killed all of the subjects and severely drained the benders. Guilty of their crime they begged the Lion Turtles to help. The Lion Turtles agreed to resurrect the subjects in exchange for their lives. They also decided that energy-bending was too dangerous for humans to wield and the time of energybending would come to an end. They begged that bending not be banned from their world and the Lion Turtles came up with a new plan. Upon the sacrifice of each energybender they would be able to grant one group of people that had gathered an aspect that would transfer into a bending art. Each bender would be given a different group of people. The leader of the benders asked what would happen if one group wanted to annihilate another, would the Lion Turtles step in? The Lion Turtle explained that along with the time of the energybenders, their time was soon coming to an end as well. Instead, they would grant upon the world one person and one person only to be a master of bending, a link between their world and the world of spirits. A voice of reason. The four benders agreed and were asked what aspect they would give. The first answered:

"The ability to adapt and accept whatever change comes as time flows." The first energy-bender passed and mothered the race that would become the Waterbenders.

The Lion Turtle looked to the second.

"The ability to be firm and stand up to whatever tries to knock them down." The second energybender perished and fathered the race of the Earthbenders. The third stepped forward.

"The ability to never give up and blaze through whatever challenges them." The third energybender took her last breath as she exchanged her life for the race of the Firebenders. The Lion Turtle looked to the last energybender who was crying.

"Do you cry because you fear death?" The Lion Turtle asked.

"No, I cry because I am happy to give my people the gift of freedom in their lives towards enlightenment." He smiled and left to the spirit plane and created the Airbenders.

The Lion Turtles chanted in a deep voice that echoed and vibrated in the air. As the lives of men rose again this time with their new bending abilities the Lion Turtles could feel their own days ending in the future. Even if one might last for many millennia to come, their mortality was now sealed. The Lion Turtle spoke once more to the resurrected humans.

"You have been given great gifts by your creators. It is up to you to decide how you will live with these gifts. When the passing of our first comrade falls, one of your own, a great master of your gifts known as the Avatar, shall rise. They will bear the mark of the Lotus and will be the guide, warrior, and vessel of power to your kind. Look for their coming. The era of energybending is over. The time of the Avatar is about to begin."

The people separated to live their own lives again feeling that nothing had really changed within them. They moved on, seemingly ordinary, until strange things began occurring. Stories were rushing through the lands of benders but they were not energybenders as the people had hoped but bent the elements. The story of two lovers had become most famous when one devastated young woman almost destroyed two villages in her anger at the death of her lover over the feud of their two villages. She was said to have been bending the earth to her will and created one village that would together no longer argue but become a great city known as Omashu. From there, the story of a group of warriors who had fallen into the nest of dragons had somehow come out alive and with firebending abilities. At the North Pole the people watched in deep thought at the moon, wondering how these abilities could exist. Why would such creatures teach people these destructive abilities. They watched the moon and tide push and pull each other as if in deep conversation over the changes when the people came to realize their own potential and changed to adapt to the life of Waterbenders. Finally in mountainous temples the monks watched the world change and knew that their time had come as well to join them. The monks had known of their abilities but had been waiting for the moment to reveal how the air bison, their companions, had showed them the freedom of airbending.

Now that the world began to separate into its four corners and races, the only thing to do now was to wait for the Avatar, however long that wait might be, no one knew and it was soon forgotten between generation to generation.

Almost half a millennia later, a great warrior came across a scroll in Wan Shi Tong's Library telling of the coming of the first Avatar. He thought it was interesting that the Avatar would be brought about by the death of a Lion Turtle. The Lion Turtles still were as alive as ever and thought to be immortal. He had no idea they could die. The warrior was prideful and selfish. He thought that if he were the first to slay a Lion Turtle, that he would invoke the powers of the Avatar. So he set out to find one.

He came across a Lion Turtle that had been separated from its Pride in a great forest. He took up his bow and arrow to strike but the shell of the Lion Turtle was too thick. He would need better aim as the Lion Turtle searched for the attacker with its piercing gaze. The Warrior moved quietly and took his aim. He inhaled as quietly as he could, allowing his breath to guide the arrow to strike at the Lion Turtle's chest. The Lion Turtle roared and bounded at his attacker, ripping him from the tree he sat in. The Warrior drew his knife, for his sword was being pushed into his side by the grip of the Lion Turtle. He stabbed and jabbed the Lion Turtle as many times as he could before the creature threw him against a tree. The man drew his bow and arrow once more striking the same wound before running off.

The Turtle howled in pain as the blood trickled down its chest. For many hours the beast wandered through the forest in an attempt to be reunited with its companions but to no avail. It was almost dawn when his pacing finally came to a stop at the base of a small cottage. It was just then that the owner of the house and his wife came out to see the beast and his wounds. The man ordered his wife to fetch some water and bandages as he tried to help the beast but the Lion Turtle stopped him and told him that it was no use. He would be dead within a few moments. However, because of the man's kindness to him he would bless his daughter with the gift of sight. The man told the beast that he had no daughter as his wife came out with the water. The Lion Turtle explained that he would and he touched the belly of his wife. A small light shone from his fingertips blessing the woman. Before he perished he told the man one last thing. He told him of the coming of the Avatar and the coming of a shadow. Upon his death a great hunt would begin for them but he must find them first with the help of his daughter. In sixteen years time, the mark of the Avatar will manifest upon four worthy people in the four corners of the world. It would be his job to find them and help stop the evil from spreading.

The Lion Turtle perished and the man and woman heard the cry of four babies on the wind and they knew that the Avatar had been born. As to which one it would be was a great mystery."

**A/N: ** This is the new prologue. I went back and changed a bit of it to try and make it easier to read. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	2. Chapter 1: Akoto the Waterbender

**Disclaimer: I own the characters but alas, not the universe they reside. **

_**16 years after the death of the First Lion Turtle. (16 ALTD)**_

The moon shone down at the North Pole illuminating the snow and ice village of the greatly expanding tribes that resided there. At this time of night fire people, air nomads, and those in the earth kingdom were usually asleep, but the Water Tribe knew about the moon and how it gave them power so all training was done at night.

For one waterbender, he was a little lack-luster about training. Akoto lay next to a small pond waving his hand slowly back and forth creating a small wave moving through the pond. He sighed and spun his finger, spinning the water into a small whirlpool.

"What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be at training! Master Rohka is looking for you!" Akoto jumped in surprise as his friend, Kasho, jumped down to him.

"I don't feel like training today, Kasho." Akoto laid back down.

"Too bad, I was told if I found you that I would have to drag you there."

"Like you could." Akoto rolled his eyes but Kasho smirked and moved his hands down to the water and quickly up shooting the water around Akoto's body and wrapping him in an icy cocoon.

"Like I could what?" Kasho laughed.

"Alright, fine. I'll go. Let me out of here, already." Kasho let out a howl before waving his hands and letting the ice melt and retreat to the water. Akoto sluggishly followed Kasho to the training grounds as he dreaded seeing Master Rohka in fear of his anger.

He was not wrong to be afraid.

As soon as he arrived Kasho was allowed back to training whereas Akoto was immediately encased by the ankles and wrists in an ice chain and hung upside-down on the flag post.

"How many times is this now, Akoto?" Master Rohka looked up at him from below with his arms folded and a cold, bitterness in his voice.

"I believe it's the seventeenth, sir."

"And why is that?"

"Because I am lazy, unmotivated, and will never amount to any level of greatness as a waterbender, sir." Akoto replied loudly.

"That's right. What I can't understand is why. You're the son of one of the greatest waterbenders we have seen and yet you dismiss your own training and sit around doing nothing."

"I'm not my father."

"Clearly." He argued back. "Just when exactly do you plan on actually growing up and acting like a man?"

"I am a man." Akoto defended.

"Just because you passed the Ice Dodging test two years ago does not make you a man if you are resolved to acting in this manner for the rest of your life."

"I'm already more skilled in waterbending than most of the other guys! If we came under attack I'd be ready to fight."

"Oh really?" He waved his hands and the ice melted sending Akoto falling to the ground. Akoto flipped to land on the soft snow in a readied battle-stance. Akoto flung his arms forward in a swift attack against Rohka but it was immediately deflected by Rohka's calm barrier of water. Akoto glared and jumped forward moving his hands upwards and moving them quickly at Rohka changing the small pellets of water into shards of ice. In a swift upwards movement Rohka's water barrier became ice and shattered Akoto's attack. Akoto didn't stop attacking though and kept moving and bending his surroundings to try and defeat his master. Rohka had hardly attacked and simply defended his own ground until the opportunity arose to strike at Akoto. He moved in a smooth circular motion and raised the ice from under Akoto's feet to send him flying backwards. Akoto moved to get up again but Rohka chained his hands and feet in ice and suspended him once more.

"You may be a great waterbender, but you are far from skilled." Rohka said from below. Akoto struggled to get free. "You'll stay up there until you're ready to train seriously."

Later when dawn was nearing, Akoto swayed slowly in the wind. He sighed in annoyance at how long he had been hanging there. By now most would have been unconscious from the blood rushing to their head but Akoto had perfected a technique to keep his blood circulating using waterbending. It was simple, as long as he could move his head he could do the technique without the use of his arms. He had to, after all this was the seventeenth time he had been hung by his ankles. Most people didn't understand Akoto and why he hated training. Akoto felt it was too basic, he had already mastered them and life seemed completely boring now. Nothing would happen that would make him actually need to use waterbending for any defense other than against Master Rohka. The world they lived in was peaceful. There was no point for any disturbance.

Akoto's thoughts were quickly diverted when he saw a shadow near the wall but it quickly disappeared. Akoto looked around, feeling that something wasn't right. Suddenly the ice melted and let out a shriek as he plummeted to the ground in surprise. Before he could even get up on his own feet he was dragged into a small hut. Akoto looked up to see Master Rohka holding him but he was staring out at where Akoto had seen the shadow.

"Sir, what's going on?" Akoto whispered but he was immediately silenced. After a few minutes it seems Rohka felt it was alright to talk.

"These past few weeks we seem to have strange company at dawn."

"Why?"

"Because they're searching for someone." Akoto looked confused and waited for him to explain further. "Go home to your family now, and I expect you at training."

"You always expect me, it's whether or not I choose to show up or not that determines my going." Akoto sauntered. Suddenly he felt a sharp jab in his butt from an icicle Master Rohka had bended. "Alright! Alright! I'll see you tomorrow!" Akoto hurried away leaving Master Rohka to further investigate their unwelcome visitor's appearance.

**A/N: ** I hope you enjoyed meeting Akoto. He's one of my favorites to write. XP Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	3. Chapter 2: Yizhu the Airbender

**A/N: **While I don't own the Avatar Universe, I do own the characters. XD

The sun rose over a small mountain temple. Yi-zhu sat on top of a large rock in one of the gardens meditating. His breathing was low and his concentration focused. He could feel the surroundings around him begin to awaken with the sun. He heard the small crawls of the land crabs and the leaves as they blew in the breeze. He could also hear something else. It sounded like screaming. He concentrated on the noise when he felt his being move through the cosmos. As he focused on the screaming all he could see was darkness but the sounds were becoming louder. He pressed forward in his mind but all he could see was darkness. The screams began to encompass his mind making him dizzy. The last thing he saw before his eyes opened were two red eyes staring him down.

Yi-zhu caught his breath as he came out of meditation. Immediately he jumped up and grabbed his glider staff and took off to a lower part of the temple where an older monk was tending to a garden.

"Master Pai-Qin." He bowed before coming closer to the monk. "It has happened again. This time I managed to see their eyes, two red eyes."

"You are speaking of the dreams?" He asked with his voice airy and old.

"Not dreams, visions. They happen when I meditate. Something is very wrong but I can't see what is attacking people."

"Attacking people?" Pai-Qin turned to him in confusion.

"Well it must be attacking people, I always hear screaming."

"I see." He put down his shears. "Yi-zhu, how long have these been happening exactly?"

"For three weeks, almost a month."

"Hmm, interesting. Isn't that about the time the lotus marking appeared on your arm." Pai-Qin nodded to a dark mark on Yi-zhu's arm that looked to be in the shape of a lotus.

"Yes." Yi-zhu looked at his arm and stroked two fingers across the mark.

"I've written to my brother in the south about it and he claims to know why you have that. It might explain these visions as well."

"What is it?" Yi-zhu asked eagerly.

"He did not say yet, he wanted to go to Wan Shi Tong's Library before he jumped to any conclusions. I suspect we'll hear from him in a week or two."

"A week or two? Why so long?"

"The Library moves. Wan Shi Tong does not keep it in one place for too long lately."

"Lately?"

"Yes, I'm not sure why he has decided to keep moving but that's what I hear. My brother believes it to be located somewhere in a vast swamp in the Earth Kingdom." Yi-zhu looked down in defeat.

"Don't worry, Yi-zhu. I'm sure everything is alright. Why don't you go out flying with Loba?"

"Loba still hasn't gotten better from that spidercat bite. She needs rest. I'll just go train."

"You train too much, Yi-zhu. You should relax a little."

"My test for mastery is coming up, I need to practice." He hurried away on his glider again. Pai-Qin watched him with worrisome eyes. He sighed before reaching into his robes and pulling out a letter. He glazed it over but stopped at the last line.

_I believe him to be one of the chosen. – Your brother, Pai-Qen._

"Let's hope we're wrong, brother." He tucked the letter back into his robes.

**A/N:** I hope you liked it! Please R&R. Just some quick notes, they are not at any specific air temple because the first avatar period is so far back that it's before the air temples were established as specific dwellings of air nomads who are at this time, actual nomads.


	4. Chapter 3: Kyohei the Earthbender

**Disclaimer: I own the characters but not the universe. XD**

The sun rose slowly giving the land a soft orange haze. Many would be asleep at this hour but not Kyohei. Usually he would not be up for another half hour when he was supposed to be doing his chores. However, Kyohei was not like his family. He was an earth-bender, although his parents were ignorant to this knowledge. He secretly practiced in the old quarry. It had been abandoned thanks to a great land slide three years ago and the villagers were forbidden from entering it. Why was he keeping his abilities a secret? Kyohei had struggled with the decision to tell his family but bending can sometimes be seen as negative. In fact, the benders in his village were believed to be the culprits behind the landslide. Ever since then no benders have lived in his village from fear of banishment and persecution. Kyohei was ready to leave this place as well and go find himself a real teacher to help him with his abilities but for now, he would improvise.

He focused on the boulder before him and put out his hands. He moved his stance and stomped the ground lifting the rock. As he thrust his hands out the rock flew backwards into another pile and obliterated it into a thousand pieces. Kyohei let out a deep breath when he heard the voice of his mother.

"Kyohei! Where are you?"

"Coming, mother!" He scrambled up the quarry and began running to his house which was not far from the quarry.

"What were you doing over there?" She asked as he came around the corner.

"Nothing, I thought I saw something."

"Come and help your father with the fencing, the cowpigs got out last night. Your brothers are out getting them now."

"Yes, mother." He kissed her cheek and hurried to help his father who was already nailing the fence together. "Hey, dad." Kyohei kneeled down next to him and helped support the fence.

"Ah Kyohei, what have you been up to already so bright and early?"

"The sun has barely been up, what could I have already done?" Kyohei joked.

"We are talking about you, son." He ruffled his son's hair but then stopped and stared at his son's neck in puzzlement.

"What's wrong?" Kyohei looked confused. "Dad?" His father shook his head out of the bewilderment.

"What's on your neck?"

"My neck?" Kyohei rubbed his neck but felt nothing. They walked over to the pond so Kyohei could see his reflection and on his neck was a strange symbol. He tried to rub it off but nothing would do.

"When did that get there?" His father asked him but Kyohei shrugged.

"I don't know." Kyohei went back into the house where his two younger twin sisters were running around giggling and laughing. Kyohei hurried to a mirror and looked at the symbol. It looked like a lotus flower.

"Niinii!" His sisters called as they ran in and attached themselves to his legs.

"Kozue, Kiko! What are you doing?" He laughed and tried to walk with his new sibling growths.

"Niinii! Come play with us!" Kozue giggled.

"Please! Please! Please!" Kiko begged.

"I'm sorry girls, but I have to do my chores. I'll play with you later, ok?" He managed to detach himself from his sisters and went outside. His brothers were just coming back with the herd of cowpigs and he went to assist them back into the pin.

"Something must have spooked them last night. Did you see the damage they did to the fence?" Kyohei's older brother Shohei nodded towards the fence where his dad was still working. Kyohei hadn't really looked at how widespread the damage was. There were posts standing but almost all the boards in-between had been knocked down.

"I don't think I've ever seen them act like this." Junpei, Kyohei's other brother, said as he looked at all the cowpigs who still seemed shaken from whatever it was last night. One of the cowpigs let out a squeal and charged at Kyohei knocking him over.

"You ok?" His brothers helped him up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What is wrong with them?" Kyohei looked over the cowpigs who were all squealing but not moving. Suddenly other animals on the farm started screeching and howling and making all kinds of noises. The three brothers looked around in confusion when their sisters and mother came running out of the house. Kozue had a small scratch on her arm.

"What happened?" Shohei picked up Kozue.

"Tama bit me." She sobbed in his shoulder. Junpei picked up Kiko and their father hurried over to them.

"What's going on?" His mother asked.

"I don't know. Usually I'd say it was a tigerwolf but with all of the animals like this…" Their father trailed off. Suddenly everything went silent. Nothing moved. Nothing breathed. The family looked around in confusion. It seemed like the animals had just stopped living and became statues.

Then they attacked. The animals stampeded towards the family. Kyohei's sisters and mother shrieked and hid in his brothers' and father's arms. Kyohei had no choice but to protect his family. He quickly moved in front of them and stood his ground. His mother screamed at him to come back but he didn't listen. Kyohei thrust his hands down to the ground and then swung them upwards creating a solid rock shelter for his family. He continued to bend the earth around him to stop the animals from advancing any further all the while knowing that his greatest secret had been exposed.

When he had finally stopped the animals, he let his family out. They stood in shock and fear at Kyohei. No words were spoken. Only silence.

**A/N: ** I hope you enjoyed that. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Btws, Tama is a very generic name for a cat here in Japan and that's what bit little Kozue.


	5. Chapter 4: Azara and Kaida

**Disclaimer: ** I own the characters just not the universe they're in.

Two amber eyes glared at the orange sunrise filling the dormitory she sat in with a ginger glow. Azara hated her life. She hated the bridal house she lived in. She hated that she was forced to stay in this hell hole thanks to her parents. She hated whatever was causing her misfortune in this prison. About a month ago her parents had come into her room late at night. They told her to get up and come with them to the wagon. However, when she got outside it wasn't their wagon. It was a wagon for the Fire Ladies Bride House, a school for training young women to become wives for the wealthy. Most people looked upon the house with great respect as many of the young women are daughters of public officials but there is also a side to the house that is home to girls sent by their less fortunate family in the hope that they will attract a wealthy benefactor. However, in order to do that the girls had to work at the school as well. This was Azara's lot. She was sold by her family to the house and now worked and studied at a place she thought was a load of komodo rhino poop. If she had been sold by herself she would have run away ages ago, but she wasn't. She wasn't the only one sold. Her younger sister, Kaida was here. Azara couldn't leave without her ten year-old sister. Besides, at least Kaida was getting a decent education and even training in firebending. That's the only part Azara could stand was the training in firebending. All ladies at the house were trained in case of a trespasser. Frequently men would attempt to get in and peep at the girls. Men were only allowed on the campus if escorted by one of their teachers and were never allowed to be with brides alone unless they "donated" an extensive amount of money to the school.

It became lighter in the room and Azara knew it was time to start her chores before the other girls got up. Azara had extra work because she had made a deal with the headmistress. She refused to be bought by some wealthy pig without being able to take her sister with her before Kaida was sixteen. Azara may hate her parents but they did this for a reason, or so they said. Just before they were piled into the wagon her parents had told her that she and Kaida needed to go because something was coming and Azara and Kaida needed to go somewhere safe. Azara didn't really understand them but she vowed to protect her sister no matter what. So Azara would. She took on the brunt of chores, punishments, and work so that Kaida could focus on her studies.

Today Azara had to prepare the bath for Zuri. Zuri was one of the older girls at the house and today Zuri would be purchased by one of the Council of Sage's nephew or someone like that. Azara didn't care really. It was just one more girl she wouldn't have to cater to. Zuri was the second daughter of a wealthy tradesman. Her sister had already been bought by one of the Fire Sage's ambassadors. Most of the higher class ladies were snobbish and looked down on the lower-class girl, even though the wife to the Great Sage came to this school from one of the poorest families in the Fire Nation. Azara didn't care though. She figured if she simply did her work and kept Kaida out of public view, they could be safe until they could leave.

Azara used her firebending to heat the bath to a warm temperature before pouring in oils and flower petals. She could hear the other girls already waking up, many of them squealing to Zuri about her new soon-to-be husband. Headmistress Luzina escorted Zuri to the bath and Azara assisted in her bathing. Most of the time it was just Headmistress Luzina yelling and ordering Azara around, Azara didn't mind though, she was used to it.

After the bath Azara assisted in her makeup and hair. The traditional makeup for a bride was to paint the face with a white cream and then add the colored accents to the eyes and lips. For her hair, which was Azara's special skill, she would stroke in a thick hot wax to mold the hair on top of Zuri's head so that it was a sleek and clean style. Her hair would be decorated with a simple ornament with white flowers and crystals.

She then helped in dressing Zuri into her robes. There were many layers of white cloth that were decorated white beads and gems. Azara and Headmistress Luzina moved in circles around Zuri tying a red sash with embroidered dragons tightly around her waist and into an intricate knot on her back. They put two white socks which had a space separate for the big toe on her feet and she slipped into tall sandal-like shoes. After a final inspection they added the last ornaments to the bride. A small pouch filled with medicinal herbs was hung around her neck and beautiful red dragon fan was tucked into her sash.

Azara helped walk Zuri out to the front of the school. As they walked through the halls the younger girls would throw flower petals around the bride. In the entrance of the school was a large staircase and at the bottom of the stairs waiting was the groom. One of the Fire Sages also joined in on the ceremony of purchasing the bride. Everything seemed to be normal except that Azara noticed that the Fire Sage did not stop staring at her. Azara tried to step out of his gaze but his eyes followed her.

Finally Zuri was taken from the school and Headmistress Luzina was counting her money from the purchase. Azara was dismissed and she hurried to find Kaida.

"Azara!" Kaida called to her down a hallway with a big smile on her face. She opened her arms and Azara picked her up. "Wasn't Zuri pretty?"

"Yes she was very pretty." Azara smiled and held her as she walked. "Come on, it's time for your lessons."

"I don't want to bend today. Can't we just go to the gardens?" Kaida begged.

"No, we must practice our bending. If we don't do you know what happens?"

"Then we can't fight off nasty stinky boys." She rolled her eyes.

"Exactly." Azara smiled and tapped Kaida's nose.

"But why do we hate boys if we have to marry them?" Kaida cocked her head to the side.

"Who says you have to marry anyone? You're still too young." Azara tickled her and Kaida jumped down from her sister's arms.

"But you're not." She put her hands on her hips and teased.

"Yes but I'm not going to get married. I'm going to become a firebending master and burn any man who dares to try and buy me." Azara folded her arms.

"Nu-uh!" Kaida teased. "I already know that you're gonna get married and have lots of babies!"

"Oh you do, do you?"

"Yep." Kaida smiled smugly.

"Well before I can have any babies there's one I have to take care of right now!" Azara chased her little sister down to the training grounds so they could begin their lessons with Mistress Ulla. Mistress Ulla was a teacher to the lower-class girls and she liked Azara and Kaida a great deal. She was the only teacher that did. So when the girls came rampaging into the training grounds all Mistress Ulla did was laugh at the sight of them before clapping her hands a few times to begin their training.

**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed the firebending chapter. I used a lot of ideas from Japanese culture for the Fire Ladies Bridal House with a few twists of my own. (A lot of what I write is Japanese influenced as I live in Japan XD) Thanks for reading & reviewing!


	6. Chapter 5: The Journey Begins

**Disclaimer: ** I own the characters, not the universe.

Jeo-Hyung was in his study going through mountains of papers. He scribbled notes furiously as if his life depended on finishing the paperwork. He didn't even notice his young daughter creep into his office and crouch behind him. She waited three seconds before jumping up and shouting "BOO!" causing her father to jump and knocked over a pile of papers.

"Miseon!" He laughed and picked up his daughter. "What did you do that for?" He tickled her.

"Daddy is always working!" She pouted and tried to hold back her giggles.

"I'm sorry, pet." He patted her on the head. "Daddy has a lot of work to do mapping our route. It's not going to be easy traveling to the places you say we need to go."

"But we have Keecha to take us."

"Yes but Keecha can't swim to the North Pole now can she?"

"But she can take us to the village where the earthbender is."

"What earthbender?"

"Last night I dreamt about the earthbender. He's in a little village right here." She pulled out one of the maps and pointed at a small area in the Earth Kingdom. "And then we can go to the airbender before we meet the waterbender and then circle down to the firebender." She traced her fingers along the map.

"You dreamt of the firebender too?"

"I think so…I'm not sure." She scratched her head.

"What aren't you sure about?"

"Well everyone else is a boy…I dreamt about two girls."

"Girls?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, they're really pretty too." She jumped off of his lap and pulled out a small picture she had drawn of them. "They live in a house with a bunch of other girls. And in my dream this one," She pointed to the drawing of the taller girl. "She was helping another girl get married! Ew!" She stuck out her tongue at the thought of boys.

"Ah, a bride house. They're common in the Fire Nation, I hear. So which one of these girls is the one we want?"

"I don't know, I just dream about them." She shrugged.

"Thank you, Miseon." He took the picture from her.

"So when can we go, daddy?" She leaned on the arm of his chair with her hands under her chin. She looked up at him with sparkles in her eyes.

"Well," He looked back at the map and then at his daughter. He didn't want to waste any more time with her dreams becoming so detailed now. It was clear that the benders were all in danger. "Tonight." He answered and Miseon jumped up and cheered.

"I'll go get mom and Keecha!" Miseon ran out of his office as her father began cleaning everything up. She hurried to a separate room where a small shrine was in the center of the wall. On it was a picture of Miseon's mother. She picked it up and smiled at it. "We're going tonight, mama! I'm so excited!" She squealed and kissed the picture before tucking it into her robes and rushing outside to a stable where a camelephant stood. "Keecha! We get to go tonight! Let's get your saddles on! I'm so excited to go meet the benders!" She chatted to the camelephant, Keecha, who looked entirely unenthused by the conversation but obeyed and moved to help the young girl saddle him. "I'm really excited to go to the North Pole though! Daddy says the whole place is a big city made of ice! Ice! A WHOLE city of it!" Keecha made a grunt of disapproval. "Oh don't worry. You'll be warm, I promise." She patted Keecha on the cheek but Keecha didn't seem to believe her. "Come on, let's go to the front and wait for daddy." She took Keecha by the reigns and guided the camelephant to the front of the house. Miseon was about to grab a sack of food for Keecha to eat before they left when she gasped and grabbed her head, stumbling to the ground. Her eyes opened but only the whites of her eyes could be seen.

"_There's no place for you here! If anyone else finds out we'll all be banished! Do you want your little sisters living on the streets?" Kyohei's father shouted at him. _

"_No one has to know! I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I did it because I knew you'd act like this! It's not my fault I was born like this!" Kyohei shouted back. _

"_Just go! I won't have an earthbender in my house! Now go!" Kyohei's father commanded. His sisters began crying but Shohei and Junpei picked them up and took them out of the room. Kyohei looked to his mother who immediately diverted her gaze before finally deciding to walk away. Kyohei held his hands in a tight fist before grabbing a cloak and storming out of the house. As he walked away a dark shadow slowly followed him. _

"DADDY!" Miseon screamed as her eyes turned back to the normal green they had been. Her father came running out of the house to her.

"What's wrong?" He rushed and kneeled down to her.

"The earthbender! He's gone! He left the house! We have to go after him! The shadow men are gonna get him!" She cried and held onto her father.

"Shh, shh, calm down. It's ok. We'll go right now and get him. We'll find him, alright?" Miseon nodded her head between sobs and tapped Keecha who brought around her trunk and helped to set the girl on his saddle. "I'll be right back with some supplies. Miseon, can you try to guide him to a location closer to us?" Miseon nodded and her father rushed back into the house. Miseon closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. She focused her ability back to the earthbender. She tried to worm herself into his mind and whisper directions to him. The question was, would he follow them or not? Her father came back out and Keecha assisted him on to his back.

"Where did you send him?" He asked as they took off.

"Gaoling."

"To Gaoling it is then. Let's just hope we make it there."

"Let's just hope he makes it there." Miseon said with a worried frown.

**A/N: ** I hope you liked this chapter! I'm feeling pumped up about getting the story actually rolling now that we've met a good portion of the characters. Btws, a camelephant is technically a more desert-dwelling creature but there is a reason as to why Jeo-Hyung has one in his home which if you remember in the prologue is on the edge of a forest.I also chose more Korean names for them as the Earth Kingdom tends to be fairly diverse in the cultures that we've seen mirrored on the show and are pronounced (JYO-HYUH-NG and MEE-SAHN) Sorry, writing Jeo Hyung phonetically is actually weird. XD


	7. Chapter 6: Changes

**Disclaimer:** I own the characters, not the universe. XD

_Kyohei ran as fast as he could through the forest. He didn't know what was after him and he barely got a decent look at the creatures when they had charged at him. They were big, black, and had red eyes. They were fast and Kyohei had to keep bending the earth below his feet just to keep himself at a good distance from them but they weren't relenting. He sped up as fast as he could. The buzzing anxiety he had felt in their presence began to fade. He slowed to a stop and looked around. The entire forest seemed to be silent. He let out a deep breath and turned to continue on his way. As he turned a loud screeching black figure suddenly sprang on him. _

"AH!" Yi-zhu jumped up from his meditative position. He wiped the cold sweat off of his forehead. "I have to go." He told himself and hurried to grab his glider and flew to Master Pai-Qin's room. He landed inside his room and shook his master in his bed.

"What is it?" He asked groggily.

"I was meditating when I saw this boy, he's an earthbender and he is in serious danger. I need to get to the Earth Kingdom."

"Yi-zhu, what are you talking about/"

"The visions, they're becoming clearer and I just feel it. I have to go to the Earth Kingdom and help. These shadowed figures are going to do something. I don't know what it is but people are being hurt and I can't just stand here and do nothing."

"Don't you think you're acting a bit rashly? You must calm yourself and look within."

"I AM CALM!" Yi-zhu shouted. Pai-Qin raised an eyebrow. "Ok, maybe I'm not that calm but you haven't been seeing what I'm seeing." Pai-Qin got out of the bed and patted Yi-zhu on the shoulder.

"Yi-zhu. I know you want to go and help but you don't know where this boy is or where to start looking for him."

"I do know. He's going to Gaoling."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm not sure. I heard it in my head…" Yi-zhu looked embarrassed to say it.

"What else have you seen besides the earthbender and the shadows?" Pai-Qin asked as if he already knew the answer.

"Well," Yi-zhu gulped. "I've seen this waterbender, he's been wrapped in these chains made of ice a lot but for some reason it doesn't threaten him. I'm not too sure on him. Then I see these two girls sometimes but I've only seen them once or twice. I think they're sisters and they might be firebenders."

"Might be?"

"Well I've seen the two boys bend but every time I see the girls they never bend. They just are in a house with a lot of other girls, I assumed they were firebenders because of their clothing. I think they live in one of those bride houses you once told me about."

"Is that all?"

"There's one more. It's a little girl. I'm not sure who she is but sometimes she speaks to me. As if she's the one explaining what I'm seeing. I never know where she is. She always appears in the darkness. I know what she looks like because there's a beam of light that surrounds her but I don't think she can move from it. She was the one who told me about Gaoling. I think it's really important that I get to them and help."

"I was afraid of this." Master Pai-Qin reached in his robes and pulled out an envelope. "My brother believes you are one of the four chosen candidates with Avatar potential."

"What?" Yi-zhu took the letter out of the envelope and scanned it over. "I'm not sure I follow, master."

"We were unsure if it was time but my brother confirmed the first death of a Lion Turtle on the night you were born. Do you remember the story of the energybenders I used to tell you?" Yi-zhu nodded. "Those stories are real and we think that because the four nations have become so divided that it also has assisted in the coming of the Avatar. The Avatar is a master of all bending and is the bridge between our world and the spirit world."

"But that can't be right. I can't bend anything but air."

"For now at least. But it's clear it is your calling now to leave me and pursue your destiny."

"But what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. That's why my brother went to The Library to find out." Yi-zhu stood up and walked to the window.

"I can't wait that long though. I have to go now. The last I saw of the earthbender he was being attacked. The waterbender isn't too far from something happening either I feel."

"The firebenders?"

"I feel like there is something protecting them. Something big that I can't see."

"But Loba, she's not well enough for flying."

"Then I'm going on my glider. When you have word of from your brother send the message with Loba to find me if she is well by then. I have to go." Yi-zhu said determinedly. Pai-Qin sighed.

"I guess I have no choice but to let you go. You must be careful. You won't be as safe down there as you would be up here in the temple."

"I understand, Master Pai-Qin." Yi-zhu smiled and bowed with gratitude before leaving the room. He flew down to a small shelter where a large, sky bison lay. It was easy to tell that Loba had been ill. Her eyes were weary and some of her fur had been falling off from the infection. She moved and gave a loud groan when she saw Yi-zhu hurrying to her.

"Hey girl." Yi-zhu rubbed her head. "How are you feeling?" Loba groaned again. "I know. Don't worry. Master Pai-Qin is going to take good care of you." Loba then cocked her head to the side and made a high-pitched noise of confusion. "I'm sorry, Loba but I have to go now or it might be too late. It's only for a little while, ok? Master Pai-Qin is waiting for a letter. When he gets it he promised to send you with it to come and find me. You know how to find me, don't you girl?" He smiled and rubbed her nose. Loba grumbled in agreement. "Good girl. I'll see you soon, ok?" He hugged his sky bison once more before taking off towards the Earth Kingdom. He didn't know how long it would take but he knew he had to go.

* * *

><p>Azara sat in the corner of a dance hall handing sewing costumes while twelve of the other older girls at the bride house practiced the Fire Blossom Dance. The dance was performed every year at the Fire Blossom Festival. As one of the older girls she should be dancing with them but one of their caretakers who was in charge of all the sewing passed away a few months ago and now the task befell to Azara who was not only quick with a needle but quick to fight the other girls which often led to her list of chores piling up rather than attending her classes. She didn't care about the etiquette classes as much as she did about her firebending classes but due to her latest run-in with Headmistress Luzina she was being detained from those as well.<p>

Usually, Azara didn't mean to fight as much as she did but sometimes she couldn't stand the other girls and their snide comments towards her and her sister. For the most part, Azara could handle being teased by the girls but it was when they picked on Kaida that she would lose it. That last time, which cost her the firebending lessons for the week, was when one of the older girls had accused their mother of being a worker in a women's house and that Kaida and Azara were illegitimate children. Of course, they were often accused of this given that Azara and Kaida didn't look much alike but that was only because Azara took after their mother and Kaida took after their father.

"Ow!" Azara pricked her finger on the needle she was using. She quickly sucked on her finger to clear the blood away but apparently she had stabbed herself deeper than anticipated. She excused herself from the class to go and get a wrapping for it. As she walked through the wooden halls she heard voices coming from Headmistress Luzina's office. The door had been left open a crack and Azara saw that she was talking to that Fire Sage she had seen at Zuri's purchase. She stood as still and quietly as she could to listen.

"I do apologize, Sage Izan. But the rules of our establishment state that a girl may only be removed from our house if they are purchased for marriage or are extremely ill. Even without those rules it would be impossible to send Azara with you because of the bindings the eligible girls wear on their necks. They cannot be removed until she has completed the purchase ceremony which prevents them from leaving the village." Azara touched the metal binding around her neck with the emblem of the bride house etched into it. "And I'm afraid you are unable to purchase her, you are already married."

"I understand." The Fire Sage sad with a faint depression that his attempt to take Azara away. "But what if I wasn't the one purchasing her. My son will be home from his journey to the Earth Kingdom in a few days. Might I purchase her now and bring her home for him?"

"I'm sorry, all grooms must be present for the purchase of the brides. If you were to leave and come back with your son, then we can begin the process but would your son be alright with the conditions following Azara's purchase at this time? You would have to take her younger sister, Kaida, as well."

"By all means, we would be happy to." He said quickly as if time was pressuring him to finish the deal. "May I at least put a reserve down for her, in case another buyer comes along?"

"With her I don't think it will be necessary but if you feel the need to, by all means." Headmistress Luzina smirked at the thought of more money, especially getting more money than what Azara was supposedly worth.

"Thank you." Sage Izan bowed and stood up. Azara quickly ran as fast as she could outside and into the gardens. She inhaled deeply and then jumped in a flaming kick that encompassed a stone.

"NO! THIS ISN'T FAIR!" She struggled to pull the stupid metal binding off of her neck but it was no use. She fell to her knees sobbing. She had to figure something out. Some other way out of this prison.

* * *

><p>Akoto sat drawing on a glacier. He was focused on sketching the dreams he seemed to frequently been having. The latest had been of a girl. He couldn't get her face out of his mind. She was in pain in the dream. Not a physical pain but more emotional turmoil. In most of the dreams she was angry and the only time he rarely saw her smile. Akoto studied the picture he drew of her once again. He didn't know her name but he felt like he knew her.<p>

Suddenly the picture was ripped from his hands.

"Ooh, she's cute!" Kasho said and laughed. Akoto jumped up and chased his friend, demanding he give it back.

"Kasho!" He shouted and brought up his arms to freeze Kasho's ankles to the spot. "Give it back now."

"As soon as you unfreeze me." Kasho agreed. Akoto glared at his friend but unfroze him and Kasho handed him the photo. "There you see. You have your photo back." Kasho walked around him and sat down. Akoto was studying the drawing again making sure it wasn't damaged.

"So who is she? You seem to draw a lot of her." Kasho asked. Akoto spun around and saw Kasho going through his entire sketchbook. He let out a sigh of annoyance and rolled his eyes.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" Kasho raised an eyebrow.

"I dream about her sometimes, that's all." He sat down next to his friend as he turned the page. He turned it to a picture of the girl shooting fire out of her fists.

"She's a firebender?" Kasho looked at Akoto in shock. "You know your father won't approve of this if he sees it."

"Well he's not going to see it and it wouldn't matter anyways cuz it's just a picture. It's not like I'm marrying her." Akoto took the book out of Kasho's hands and inserted the picture back into it.

"Yeah but you forget who your dad is. He's one of the Head Waterbending Council members!" Kasho pointed out.

"You think I don't know that?"

"All I'm saying is you have to tread a lot more carefully on what you do than the rest of us. You don't have as much freedom in our choices as say me." He said with a smirk.

"What are you talking about now?" Akoto looked to him in confusion.

"I mean that I made one." Kasho pulled out a betrothal necklace. "I'm gonna give it to Kaula tomorrow after I talk to her father."

"You're kidding me!" Akoto stood in shock. "No seriously, you're kidding me, right?"

"Nope. She already knows my intentions and she accepted them. We just have to go through her father and it's all settled. I'm going to be a married man." Kasho stood proudly with his hands on his fur vest.

"I don't know what to say. I can't believe it's that time for us already." Akoto looked depressed.

"Hey don't get all depressed on me now!" Kasho rushed to his best friend and patted him on the back.

"I'm not. I'm really happy for you. It's just everyone keeps telling me to grow up, act like an adult and here you go starting without me."

"I'm sure it'll be your turn soon enough. Maybe with this flaming hot girl." Kasho laughed. "Get it, flaming hot girl? Cuz she's firebending."

"You're cleverness astounds me." Akoto rolled his eyes and got up. "I gotta get home. See you at training tomorrow?"

"You actually gonna show up?"

"Well if you're gonna get married, I'm gonna need to find something to do with my free time." Akoto smirked before heading off to his house. At dinner that night Akoto ate with his parents. His mother would gab on and on about gossip in the tribe but none of it really interested Akoto until his father decided to bring up the subject he didn't really want to hear anymore of today.

"I've been thinking, Akoto, have you any prospects in extending our family as of late?" His father, Akaron, looked dead on at him.

"Excuse me?" Akoto's soup fell from his spoon.

"I was speaking with Chakal earlier today and he brought to my attention the eligibility of his daughter Kaula."

"So?" Akoto tried to ignore him.

"So I was thinking that perhaps you two might be interested in entering an engagement." Akoto couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not two hours ago his best friend just told him of his intentions with her and now his father suddenly wanted this?

"Well I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Akaron ate his food calmly, ignoring the fact that his son seemed irritated.

"Because Kasho already made her a betrothal necklace and they're going to finalize the plans tomorrow."

"Ah, not if you ask her father first. I heard about Kasho's intentions but I don't see that match to be very suitable."

"Why not? She loves him. He loves her." Akoto explained.

"Yes but Kasho's rank within the waterbenders isn't as desirable a match for Chakal's family as it would be to benefit you more."

"Since when is marriage supposed to be about beneficial rank? Shouldn't both parties be, you know, in love and all?" Akoto slammed down his spoon and glared at his father.

"Young man, you mind your behavior."

"Mom, you're with me on this one, aren't you?" Akoto turned to his mother who had be silent in fear the entire time.

"She agrees with me." His father interrupted before she could speak. Akoto jumped up.

"Let her say it herself! Just because she's married to you doesn't mean she has to bend to your every will!"

"Akoto, what has gotten into you?" Akaron stood up and slammed his hands on the table.

"What's gotten into me? What's gotten into you? You never cared about anything before today! Why is my life suddenly so important to you?"

"You're my son and I care about your future!"

"Yeah, since when? If you really had you wouldn't have let my waterbending training absences slide by you. I know Master Rohka complains to you about me but you don't even care! You've never cared and I don't need you too!" Akoto stormed away to his room. He sat on his bed and pulled out his sketchbook and stared at the picture of the firebending girl. It was one of her crying and Akoto suddenly felt as though he understood why she was crying. He turned the page and it was of a darker picture. The black of his pencil had almost covered the entire page and at the very center were two red eyes. The picture made a shiver run down his spine.

His mother knocked on his door as she slowly opened it. "Akoto?" She asked in a small, dainty voice.

"What?" Akoto turned away.

"I just want to talk with you. What's the matter dear? Is there something else bothering you?" She walked to him and sat next to him on his bed.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Ok. But I want you to know that your father and I love you very much. We just want what's best for you."

"Yeah, I know." Akoto said bitterly.

"Really, sweetie. He does. Don't worry about Kasho and Kaula. I'll speak to him about it."

"It's not just that, mom." He turned to her. "Everything is changing, now."

"Sweetheart, that's how life goes. Change is as natural as the flowing water. It's a part of us and we have to learn to accept change. There are times in everyone's life where they begin to realize that they're no longer little kids anymore and they have to grow up and accept all these responsibilities. It's tough but I know you can get through it if you make up your mind to do it. You're as stubborn as an iceberg, you are." She hugged him. "When you want to do something, you just go ahead and do it."

"I know, Master Rohka hates that." Akoto smirked.

"Well I love it. But, it wouldn't hurt to think before you act sometimes, ok?" She kissed his forehead.

"Ok." He sighed. "Love you, mom."

"I love you, too. Now get some sleep. You're going to training bright and early tomorrow." She smirked and left him to think about things.

**A/N: **Woo! Long chapter I know! I kind of wanted to fit almost everyone into this one. I thought about going back to Jeo-Hyung and Miseon but then this chapter would never end. I hope you're starting to understand a little bit of what's going on and I'd love to hear your theories on the shadow figures. Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	8. Chapter 7: Meetings and Attitudes

**Disclaimer: **I own the characters, not the universe.

"Papa come on!" Miseon had already jumped off of Keecha and was jumping and pointing at a tavern down the road. Jeo-Hyung was tying up Keecha by a post with other traveling animals.

"Don't worry, you said he'd be in the Flying Boar tavern. I'm sure we'll catch him in time." Her father reassured her and patted Keecha on the side.

"It doesn't matter! Come on!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the tavern. They started rushing towards the tavern when suddenly the doors burst open, shards of wood sprinkled through the air as a man went flying into the streets. People began to jump out of the windows of the tavern to run away. Jeo-Hyung pulled Miseon back and shielded her from the explosion.

"Daddy! What's going on?" Miseon cried as they hurried to find shelter.

"I don't know." He tried to push her behind him but Miseon kept trying to get a better look. Someone else had come to the opening where the door once stood. It was difficult to see them, like a shadow or a heat mirage had formed around them. On the ground was a man who was badly bruised and beaten. Miseon's eyes widened as she saw that it was the earthbender from her visions.

"Daddy it's him! We have to help him!" She weaseled her way out of her father's grip and ran to protect Kyohei as the shadowed-man walked forward.

"MISEON!" He shouted but couldn't get through the mob of people rushing by him to get away from the fight.

Kyohei struggled to get him. His face and arms were covered in scratches and bruises. He moved his hand up to try and bend the earth but could barely lift a brick. He tried to thrust the brick at his attacker but it barely levitated.

"KEEP AWAY FROM HIM!" Miseon blocked Kyohei from the man. Kyohei stared in confusion at the small girl protecting him. However, it didn't stop the attacker from coming closer to them. Miseon didn't move though, she was determined to protect him.

"All those who act on foundation and reason shall be punished. Fall into chaos and be saved, child." The man's voice was dark, scratchy and filled with detest for what lay before him.

"I don't know what that means but I don't care! I'm not moving! You can go back to wherever you came from!" Miseon shouted at him and made a disgusting face at him followed with a raspberry.

"Into darkness you shall be brought then." The man raised his hand at Miseon who stood her ground. It seemed like the man was gathering energy that began to swirl around in his hand. Suddenly the man looked to the sky as if noticing another interruption.

"Leave her alone!" Yi-zhu swooped down on them and sent the man flying back with a sudden burst of air. He circled on his glider and landed next to Miseon and Kyohei. He turned to help Kyohei. "Are you alright?" Kyohei nodded as he struggled to keep his balance. Yi-zhu put his arm around his shoulder and helped hold him steady. He looked to Miseon who was staring up at the two of them in awe.

"It's both of you! It's really both of you!" She squealed and jumped around happily.

"Miseon!" Her father caught up to her and kneeled down to examine her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, daddy! Look it's the earthbender AND the airbender! Isn't it amazing? They're really here!" Miseon jumped around happily but her laughing was cut short as their attacker let out a yell of anger.

"I'm not gone yet!" He shouted and they all felt as if the atmosphere around them shook.

"Miseon! Get down!" Jeo-Hyung pushed his daughter to the ground. Yi-zhu let go of Kyohei to ready himself to fight the man when suddenly the ground shook and Kyohei let out a grunt as he bent the earth below the man to smack him in the face with a wall of earth. The man walked around in a daze for a moment before collapsing to the ground. The haze that shadowed him dissipated into thin air. Kyohei let out a sigh of relief before falling. Yi-zhu caught him and helped him up.

"We should go somewhere safe where we can heal his wounds. Are you two alright?" Yi-zhu asked.

"We're alright. Who are you?" Jeo-Hyung looked in confusion.

"I'm Yi-zhu."

"He's an airbender!" Miseon said proudly.

"I'm Kyohei." Kyohei struggled to speak.

"He's an earthbender!" Miseon said with even more excitement.

"How does she know that?" Kyohei looked to Yi-zhu.

"Come on, we have a lot to talk about." Yi-zhu helped Kyohei to walk.

"Enough of this! Every week something goes wrong at my tavern!" They heard a man shout angrily. They turned to see the owner of the Flying Boar Tavern slowly cleaning up the mess. "Someday the name Bei Fong will be known by everyone in the Earth Kingdom! You'll all see!" He shouted at them. Kyohei motioned for Yi-zhu to stop and he limped over to him.

"I'm very sorry about your tavern. Here." He handed him a small pouch of money from inside his robes. "It's not much but it's all I have on me now. If you give me your name I can send more to help with the repairs." The man looked up to him in confusion.

"Chen Bei Fong. You're really gonna pay for all this?"

"Well I'll try. I'm not a rich man but I feel partly responsible since I was the one who went through the door." Kyohei pointed at the destroyed door frame.

"Ah forget it! Just go on your way!" He shooed Kyohei away from him and continued cleaning. Kyohei turned to the others and shrugged.

* * *

><p>"So you're saying that I'm some all powerful bender that can bend all four elements and it's my duty to save the world when it's in danger?" Kyohei asked as he, Yi-zhu, Jeo-Hyung and Miseon sat around a table in a room they had rented at the nearby inn. Jeo-Hyung was helping put ointment on his wounds while Miseon sat with her hands on her chin as she studied the two benders before her.<p>

"Well we don't know if you are the avatar, we just know that you're a potential avatar." Jeo-Hyung explained. "My question is how did you know about this? I thought we would have to search for a long time to find you." He looked to Yi-zhu.

"You would have been searching forever. It's impossible for non-airbenders to get to the temple I live in without a glider or a sky bison." Yi-zhu smiled. "In my training I'd been having visions. I heard your daughter tell me to come to Gaoling."

"I didn't tell you to come here. I told him to come here." Miseon pointed at Kyohei.

"Really? Well I was having a vision of him at the time, so maybe the message got relayed to me as well." Yi-zhu explained. "But I saw Kyohei in the forest and knew he was in danger and that I need to leave right away. I left even before my mastery test. But Master Pai-Qin told me of what I might be, he was waiting for confirmation from his brother who went to the Great Library."

"Great Library? Where is that?" Jeo-Hyung asked.

"I don't know, it's a moving library brought into the physical world by an old spirit called Wan Shi Tong."

"Wan Shi Tong?" Miseon asked and cocked her head to the side. Yi-zhu smiled and nodded at her.

"I've never seen him, but I heard he is like a great owl and runs the library with his knowledge seekers, fox-like creatures"

"Wow." Miseon smiled at the thought of the spirit.

"So Yi-zhu is also a potential avatar?" Kyohei asked and Yi-zhu nodded. "How man of there are us?"

"Four. One of each element." Miseon said proudly. "Now that we have you two we can start looking for the waterbender or one of the firebenders!" She jumped up happily.

"Not so fast, Miseon. Kyohei needs to rest and heal before we can go anywhere." Jeo-Hyung said as he finished wrapping Kyohei's arm.

"What do you mean one of the firebenders? I thought you said there was only one of each of us." Kyohei looked in confusion.

"Oh, it's because I'm not sure which one it is..." Miseon looked down.

"I've seen them too." Yi-zhu said. "But every time I try to focus on them my visions become blurry and are blocked by something pretty powerful."

"Same here. And I'm the one who's supposed to find you all!" Miseon whined and folded her arms.

"Here's another question. Why does a little girl have visions to find where the potential avatars are and why haven't I had any visions of the others if he has?" Kyohei looked upset and flinched at Jeo-Hyung cleaning another wound.

"Well sixteen years ago my wife and I met a lion turtle. It was injured and we tried to save it but unfortunately it died. I really couldn't believe what had happened afterwards. Before it passed the Lion Turtle told me I would have a daughter with the gift of sight. My wife wasn't even pregnant at the time." He laughed but a sadness came over his eyes for a moment. "After many years she was finally pregnant and gave birth to Miseon. By that time we had almost forgotten about the gift the lion turtle had blessed her with. Miseon used to have nightmares when she was little, it wasn't until..." He trailed off. "Well, we found out that they weren't nightmares, they were visions." Miseon nodded. Kyohei and Yi-zhu looked at each other in confusion but decided it was best not to ask.

"Well! It's getting late. You need your rest." Jeo-Hyung stood up and took Miseon from her seat. "Come on, Miseon, it's time for bed. We'll discuss our plan of action tomorrow morning. Good night!" He took his daughter into a separate room.

"He's right." Yi-zhu stood up.

"Wait, he didn't answer my question." Kyohei stopped him. Yi-zhu turned back to him. "Why is it you and Miseon have had these visions but I haven't?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm more in tune spiritually. You know, being a monk and all."

"I guess." Kyohei didn't seem to let the thought go though. As they prepared for bed it stuck in his mind.

* * *

><p>Master Rohka was throwing out orders of movements in his waterbending class. He walked through the lines of his students and adjusted their positions as necessary. He stopped at the back corner and stared as he watched Akoto practice diligently. His movements were swift and smooth, the water that moved around him was in his full control. Master Rohka walked up to him.<p>

"Akoto. I'd like to have a word with you."

"Yes, sir." Akoto said obediently. Master Rohka handed over control of the class to one of his senior students and he led Akoto inside to his home. He sat at his desk with Akoto sitting perfectly and waiting for whatever instruction he would receive.

"Akoto, I'm quite surprised with you. These last few days you've been on time, dedicated, and hardworking in your bending training."

"Is there something wrong with my training, sir?"

"In the training no, but I'm concerned. What caused this transformation? I haven't had to bind you in ice for almost a week. Your attitude has been completely altered."

"If you don't have any complaints as to my attitude I think I'd like to go train." Akoto stood up.

"Akoto! Wait!" Master Rohka stopped him. "Sit down." Akoto obediently sat back down. "I've known you your whole life. I was even there when you were born. I know when something is wrong with you." He stared Akoto down, trying to get him to break.

"It's really nothing, sir." Akoto finally spoke. "It's just a family thing."

"Ah yes, your father mentioned to me about your future. He wants you to marry Kaula, if I'm not mistaken."

"Yes. But I'm not going to nor do I want to."

"Oh I know." Master Rohka stood up. "Kasho already spoke to me as well about his intentions with Kaula. He comes to me for advice often." Master Rohka laughed. "Kasho speaks to me frequently about you as well."

"Oh?" Akoto looked nervous.

"He told me that you had been daydreaming a lot, recently."

"What? No I haven't. I've been fully concentrated on my studies." Akoto argued.

"Yes, I know. But outside of classes, he says you've been out of spirits and drawing pictures all of the time."

"It's just a hobby." Akoto looked away.

"Of course, of course." Master Rohka smirked.

"Master, if that's all then I'd like to go back to training." Master Rohka smirked and nodded his head.

"Ah, Akoto. Just remember that if you ever need someone to talk to, you can come to me."

"Thank you, sir." He got up and left back to the training grounds. Master Rohka opened a desk drawer and pulled out an old and frail looking scroll. He read it over once before sighing and putting it away.

"I'm running out of room for doubt." He said to himself.

Outside, Akoto had found that the other students had been dismissed. Kasho was the only one left waiting for him.

"What did Master Rohka want to talk to you about?" He asked with concern.

"About your big mouth." Akoto said angrily. "Why do you talk about me to that old ogre?"

"Sorry, I can't help it. He gets me with his eyes. They're like magnets that pull out all the information from me."

"Whatever," Akoto rolled his eyes and sat down. "How are the engagement plans going with you and Kaula?"

"They're better now but I heard from her that your dad and her dad were talking about getting you engaged to her. I laughed so hard at the thought of it!"

"Yeah well, they tried, they failed." Akoto half-heartedly laughed.

"What's the matter? Is something else wrong?" Kasho asked looking concerned.

"It's nothing. I'm just tired." Akoto got up and walked back to his home. He wasn't in the mood to talk about Kasho prenuptial plans. When he walked into this house, he didn't greet his parents. He just went back to his room and pulled out his sketchbook. He had drawn more pictures of the firebending girl in his dreams. The latest picture was of her laying on her bed surrounded by bells and beads. She looked upset and exhausted. "I know exactly how you feel right now." He said before laying down and closing his eyes.

* * *

><p>Azara laid on her bed with her face in her pillow. She had thread, fabric, bells and beads everywhere. She was still preparing all of the costumes for the festival. She could barely focus on her work ever since she overheard Headmistress Luzina's conversation with the Fire Sage. She didn't want to be purchased by him or his son. She wanted out of this hellhole but she couldn't figure out a way to do it. She sighed into her pillow and groaned.<p>

"AZARA!" Kaida jumped on her bed.

"Ah!" Azara was so shaken she fell off of the bed. "Kaida! What are you doing?"

"Scaring you, of course!" Kaida smirked and lay on her bed smiling and laughing at her disheveled sister.

"Oh I see." Azara smirked and got back up on the bed and continued her sewing.

"How many more of these do you have to make?" Kaida fingered through some of the beads.

"A lot. Aren't you supposed to be in class with Mistress Ulla?"

"I was but she let me come find you. She's worried that this week without firebending is going to make you go insane so she sent me to keep you calm." Kaida giggled.

"Oh yes, you made me so calm just now." Azara tickled Kaida's belly make her squeal with laughter. Azara continued sewing but Kaida watched her carefully.

"Azara, are you alright? You've been kinda sad." Kaida asked. Azara looked to her sister. Sometimes she could be so insightful for her age.

"I'm fine, Kaida. Don't you worry about me. What about you, have you been having those nightmares lately?"

"Nope, I went to speak to Lue and he made me feel better."

"When did you go see Lue?" Azara furrowed her brow at her sister.

"The day before yesterday..." Kaida looked down to avoid eye contact. "You seemed really down and so I went to Lue to ask him if he knew anything and he told me someone would be coming to take you away." Kaida mumbled.

"How did he know?" Azara whispered. She looked back to her sister. "Ah, Kaida, don't worry. No one's going to take me away."

"But he said-"

"No!" She covered Kaida's mouth. "No more on the subject. Now go practice the dance for the festival. I've got work to do." Azara ordered.

"Ok." Kaida said looking down to the floor and walking out of the dorm. Azara sighed and put her sewing down. She checked the entrance of the dorm to make sure no one was coming in. She closed the door and hurried to the back window and slid it open. She crawled out onto the ledge. The dorm was on the third floor of the house. She jumped into the large cherry tree that resided near their windows and grabbed onto the branch. She swung out of control for a moment before finding her center and swinging her legs up on the branch and climbing down the tree. She landed softly and checked her surroundings once again before darting across the lawn and to the fence. She felt the band around her neck tighten as a warning but Azara knew it wouldn't tighten any further because she had already tested how far it would take for it to actually choke her. She stepped a few feet back before running at the fence and jumping up. With great speed and agility she climbed over the fence and landed on the other side. She hurried through the small thicket of forest before reaching a cave. She checked once more to make sure she hadn't been followed before running into the cave. She snapped her fingers on her left hand and a flame formed on her palm lighting the way through the cave. She made her way through it for a long while until she came to what seemed like a dead end. However, when she turned to the right there was a large opening but only darkness covered it. She took the flame and enlarged it before shooting it into the opening. The flame flew a few feet before dissipating.

"Lue, are you in there?" She waited for a moment and then breathing could be heard.

"Azara, why have you come to me now?" A deep voice asked.

"I need your help. I don't know what to do. I don't want to be purchased by some man I don't know."

"You know of your departure?"

"Yes. I haven't met the man who's going to buy me yet but I know he's on his way. I don't want to go with him. I want to leave here but I don't want to do it as someone's wife!" Azara shouted.

"Azara. You must go with him. It is the only way you can leave here safely and begin your journey."

"But why can't there be another way? Why can't you just help me take this stupid collar off and take me away?"

"It is not time yet. It is too dangerous. You must go with the man who comes to get you. Trust him. He may be very different than you think."

"Seriously? You're encouraging this? I thought you were going to protect me from something like this happening? Isn't that what you told me before?" Azara shouted.

"Azara. I told you I would protect you and Kaida here while you wait for your journey to begin. You must be patient and know that I would never put you in harm's way."

"I just don't understand! Is there no other way out of this place that doesn't involve me marrying someone?"

"Azara! Listen carefully." Lue raised his voice and at the back of the tunnel Azara could see two glowing eyes stare her down. "You knew what it meant when your parents sent you here. You knew you couldn't avoid this day from coming. You are of age now. Your life has all led to these coming days. Do know of the nightmares your sister has?"

"Yes." Azara look down.

"If you don't follow on this path, her nightmares may come to reality. You once had terrible nightmares and dreams before your parents took you to the healer. You may not remember them but I do. I shared them with you. I promise you that your partner is not to be as hated as you want to hate him now. He will be good to you. You just have to let him."

"I don't understand. Why don't I have a say in any of this? It's my life after all."

"You do have a say it in. Everything is up to you. Your sister's safety is up to you. Your life is up to you. I am just your guide to help you follow the destiny you were born to have."

"I know, I know." Azara kicked a rock. "Alright, I'll do it. But only because I want Kaida to be safe."

"You should hurry back, Headmistress Luzina will be looking for you."

"Bye Lue." Azara bowed before hurrying out of the cave and back to the bride house. She didn't like what Lue had told her but deep down she knew that's exactly what he would say.

**A/N:** Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think of it! Reviews are greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoyed the small origin of the Bei Fong family I decided to thrown in. :D I'm also curious as to which character you think is going to be the Avatar or just which character you like the most. Hopefully another chapter will be coming out sometime this week!


	9. Chapter 8: Possession

**Disclaimer: I own the characters, not the universe. **

_It was dark. Very dark. It was nearly impossible to see anything but Miseon knew someone was there. She could hear their breathing and could almost make out their outline. Miseon moved closer in hopes her eyes would adjust better to the darkness to see who was with her. Miseon tried to speak but her voice seemed trapped in her throat. She reached out to touch the person but found her hand repel from it like a magnet. She could then begin to hear whimpers of a man. She tried again to force her hand to touch him but the vibrations between them grew stronger. Miseon wasn't giving in. She needed to see who it was. She forced herself with all her strength moving only centimeters by centimeters until finally she placed her hand on his head. As she did this his face lit up making Miseon jump back in horror at what she had seen. _

Miseon jumped up in her bed. The moon was shining through the window when she rushed out of the room.

"Miseon?" Her father called groggily but Miseon was already storming out of the room and down the hall into Yi-zhu and Kyohei's room. Kyohei was awake and leaving over Yi-zhu with red eyes and a mouth of malicious, fanged teeth.

"Get away from him!" She shouted waking Yi-zhu up. Upon seeing Kyohei's face, Yi-zhu airbended himself away from him and in front of Miseon.

"What in the world?" Jeo-Hyung exclaimed as he stood in the doorway. Then, Kyohei let out an ear-piercing howl that shook the entire room. Kyohei bounded around the walls of the room knocking himself into the three of them before jumping back to the center of the room and releasing another howl.

"Grab him and tie him up before he hurts someone!" Jeo-Hyung shouted. He and Yi-zhu rushed at Kyohei who suddenly jumped and stuck to the ceiling, crawling like a cockroach. Yi-zhu quickly turned and waved his arms sending a cyclone of air hitting Kyohei and knocking him to the ground. Yi-zhu hurried and jumped over to him, grabbing Kyohei's arms and feet and held them behind Kyohei's back.

"Get some rope!" Yi-zhu shouted.

After several attempts at tying up the possessed Kyohei they finally had him strapped to a chair. The three stood in front of him, studying Kyohei's growls and breathing.

"What do we do? How did this even happen?" Jeo-Hyung asked.

"I had a suspicion about him." Yi-zhu said and Miseon nodded.

"How? He seemed perfectly normal before."

"There was a gap."

"Yeah, when I saw him get attacked it was in a forest, not the tavern." Miseon added.

"He must have been infected by whatever these things are in the forest and then attacked again in the tavern." Yi-zhu said.

"But why attack him twice? I mean if he was already infected." Jeo-Hyung asked.

"I don't know. It's just a theory. The only one who knows is Kyohei." They all looked at Kyohei again who only growled at them. After a few moments of deep thinking Yi-zhu finally ended the silence.

"We have to go inside." Yi-zhu concluded.

"Inside what?" Jeo-Hyung asked.

"His mind and free him. We have to detach whatever it is that has a hold of him and get it from the inside. Miseon," He kneeled down to her. "Would you help me?" Miseon looked between Yi-zhu and Kyohei before nodding her head.

"Wait a moment! I'm her father and I'll be deciding if she goes into that thing's head or not and I say no! What if she gets infected by it?"

"She won't, I'll protect her."

"No offense but we just met you. How am I supposed to trust you with my daughter's life? For all we know you're infected too!"

"Daddy!" Miseon shouted. "Daddy, listen. Yi-zhu is not infected by anything! I'm going to help Kyohei whether you want me to or not!" She screamed and Jeo-Hyung kneeled down in worry.

"Miseon, it's dangerous."

"Daddy, you knew when I started having visions that this whole thing would be dangerous. Trust me." Jeo-Hyung looked into his daughter's eyes and smiled.

"You know, you always remind me of your mother when you get like this."

"I know, you say that every time." She held his cheek and he put his hand on hers.

"Sorry to break this up but we really need to get in there if we're going to save him." Yi-zhu interrupted.

"I thought monks were supposed to be kind and caring." Jeo-Hyung stood up.

"We are. I was kind to let you have your moment and I'm caring about Kyohei's life at the same time." Yi-zhu smirked and took Miseon's hand.

* * *

><p>Akoto was exhausted. He had had a long day of training and avoiding his family and friends. He wanted to go home and rest but he knew his parents would be there. He didn't want to talk to them. He didn't want to talk to anyone. So he decided to take a stroll. Akoto pulled out one of the drawings he had of the firebending girl. He had left his sketchbook at home but he always carried this picture with him. It was his favorite. It was a drawing of her sitting in a garden with her hand in a pond, playing with a young turtleduck. She looked content and was showing the traces of a smile. He didn't have any pictures of her smiling and this was the closest he had. He knew she wasn't real and that she was just something his sub-conscience had made up but he found himself wishing she was real and he daydreamed more often about her than he liked to admit. It was stupid to develop any sort of attachment to a figment of one's imagination but he couldn't help it. It was just the way he felt.<p>

"WOAH!" Akoto tripped on a block of ice and went sliding down a small hill of snow. He slammed into a pile of snow and was met by laughter. He looked up to see Kasho and Kaula sitting together.

"Nice of you to drop in, Akoto." Kaula laughed.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt whatever you were doing, I just tripped and well yeah…" Akoto trailed off as Kasho helped him up.

"You must have been pretty distracted by something for you to fall all this way without bending to help you." Kasho said.

"Is this why? She's lovely!" Kaula said picking up the drawing Akoto had dropped. Akoto ripped it out of her hands.

"No! No that is not why!" He shoved it into his coat.

"Ah, the mystery fire girl. Yeah, he's obsessed with some girl from the fire nation." Kasho explained to Kaula.

"Kasho!" Akoto yelled.

"What? She's going to be my wife soon. I can't lie to her." Kasho put his arm around her. Akoto rolled his eyes.

"Well I think it's cute. She's very pretty. How did you meet her?" Kaula asked.

"We haven't met…she's just in my dreams a lot lately." Akoto looked down from embarrassment.

"Do you think she's real?" Kaula asked. Akoto thought about it for a moment.

"No, I doubt it. Just a trick in my mind." Akoto bent a small board out of the ice around him. "I'll leave you two alone, see ya." He moved his arms and started skating the board of ice up the hill and all the way back to his home. He had spent so much energy trying to get away from Kasho and Kaula that he forgot why he didn't want to go home. His father was waiting for him at the table and his mother stood in the kitchen. However, Akoto was surprised to see his sketchbook laying open in front of him on the table.

"Do you want to tell me who this is?" His father asked pointing at the drawings.

"Not really." Akoto moved to walk away but his father slammed his fist on the table stopping him. Akoto found himself stuck inside a sheet of ice from the elbows down.

"Akoto! You will explain this now! Who is this girl and why is she firebending?"

"It's just a drawing dad! Calm down!" Akoto shouted.

"Oh really? Is this just a picture? How about this one? And this one?" He started flipping through the book.

"Yes! They're just pictures! She's not real! I don't even know her!"

"Is that so? So you've never met? You don't know her?" Akaron walked up to him inferring that his son was lying.

"No! She's just someone I invented! I just draw her!" This didn't seem to please his father yet as he walked to his bag and pulled out a folder.

"Someone you invented, is she?" He smirked and let out a laugh before throwing the folder open on the table.

"Then why did we get this in the mail last week?" Akoto looked at it. There was a picture of the same girl in a bride purchase application page. The name next to the picture read: Azara. "When were you planning on telling me you were going to marry a girl from a firebending bride house?"

"I wasn't! I don't know her!"

"Then why was this addressed to you?" He thrust the envelope addressed to Akoto in his face.

"I DON'T KNOW!" He screamed and with all his strength bended the ice to shatter around him and onto the floor. "Would you just believe me for once in your life? I don't know who she is! I don't know why you won't just calm down and leave me alone to live my life! I will do what I want to, I will marry when and who I want to and there is nothing you can say or do to stop me!"

"Akoto!" His father called but Akoto had run back out of the house and was sliding on his ice board as fast as he could. His mother came out of the kitchen and looked at the picture of the girl.

"She's pretty." She said picking up the drawing. Akaron shot her a glare before walking away. His mother shook her head and sighed before returning to the kitchen.

Akoto kept sliding on the ice for a long while, letting the cool breeze calm him down. He began to slow down near the edge of the city. He didn't understand why his father was acting this way all the time now. More importantly, who was it that sent him the bride purchase application? Akoto pulled out the drawing in his pocket.

"Azara. Hmm…" He said her name for the first time. He felt strange as he could now confirm her existence. She wasn't just an illusion. She was real. A real person. A real firebender. A real woman. Akoto rubbed the back of his head. He was in real trouble from her.

Suddenly he heard a growl. He looked up to see a pack of polar wolves surrounding him. He was in real trouble with them, too.

* * *

><p>"AH! AH!" Kaida screamed in her bed but was suddenly held by a warm embrace.<p>

"Shh, shh. It's ok. You were having a nightmare." Azara said as she held her sister. Kaida cried in her arms.

"Would you keep it down? Some of us need our beauty sleep!" One of the other girls said angrily.

"Yeah, especially you." Azara snapped and turned back to Kaida. "Kaida, what happened? Tell me what you dreamt."

"I- I was in the North pole."

"The North Pole?"

"Yeah, and these wolves attacked me. It was so scary." Kaida began to cry again.

"Shh, shh, it's ok. You're safe." Azara held her closer and Kaida sniffled.

"You're so lucky, Azara. You don't dream." Kaida wiped her eyes. Azara pulled out a handkerchief for her to blow her nose in.

"Well I can't have nightmares but I can't have good dreams either." Azara explained.

"I'd rather not dream at all."

"Don't say that. Dreams are good things. They let you remember people you love and see places that you may never go in real life because you create them."

"I suppose. Is it ok if I dream about mom and dad?" Kaida looked up with worried face.

"You need to ask permission? They're your dreams, sweetie." Azara smirked and began tucking her sister back into bed.

"Well, you're always angry at them. I didn't know if I was supposed to." Azara let out a sigh with a smile.

"You most certainly can dream of them. Now go to sleep." She kissed Kaida on her forehead before heading back to her own bed. She looked out the window and up at the moon. Something wasn't right.

_Miseon and Yi-zhu stood in the dark place. They couldn't communicate at all but they knew the other was there beside them. They heard the breathing and whimpering of Kyohei who was tied in the dark web of shadows in front of them. They had tried to reach him before but the vibrations repelled them. They also felt they weren't alone with Kyohei. Others were watching them, keeping them from going any further. Miseon looked up at Yi-zhu and tugged his hand. She held his hand for a long time as if trying to communicate with him in his mind and Yi-zhu squeezed her hand as if he understood it. They broke apart. Yi-zhu bended all the air he could find to fight off those who had been watching nearby. Miseon ran forward with all her strength and might to jump onto Kyohei and tried as hard as she could to rip him from the bindings. She freed his arm and he began pulling them off himself but the shadows moved like bubbling oil and kept latching on to him. Miseon kept pulling off the shadows but they reattached faster than she could pull. Yi-zhu felt their struggle and with a great kick of wind he blew the shadows off of Kyohei. They could hear the shadows attempting to move back at them but Yi-zhu and Miseon grabbed Kyohei's hands and jumped._

They all gasped for air as they woke up in the room they had been earlier. Kyohei's human body had returned to normal. No red eyes, no fangs, no growling.

"Woah." Kyohei said as he stared at his two companions and Jeo-Hyung who sat in the doorway.

**A/N: **Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	10. Chapter 9: Waiting is Over

Jeo-Hyung, Yi-zhu, Kyohei and Miseon sat around the table in their room sipping tea. They were all waiting for Kyohei to tell them what had happened in the forest. Kyohei took a deep breath after a final sip of tea and looked up at them.

"When I left home I knew something was following me. I tried to get away from it but it was fast. Just when I thought I had gotten away it sprang on me."

"What did it look like?" Jeo-Hyung asked.

"It's hard to explain." Kyohei thought for a moment. "It was just darkness, like a shadow, only darker. It moved kind of like water...or smoke...but fast." They all looked at each other in confusion. "Anyways, I thought I was done for there but that's when...man this is gonna sound crazy...when a giant panda thing saved me."

"Giant panda thing?"

"Yeah...I know it sounds crazy. But it was huge and it scared off the shadow thing. I kinda blacked out after that."

"Blacked out?" Yi-zhu asked.

"I think I was just tired. But when I woke up I was in Gaoling. I didn't know I was there and that's why I went into the tavern to ask where I was. That's when I was attacked. When I was possessed by it, I could still see and hear everything that was going on. I couldn't stop myself."

"It must have been awful." Miseon said and patted him on the hand. Kyohei smiled at the little girl.

"Well now that you're all better, where do we go from here?" Jeo-Hyung looked at his daughter.

"Um..." Miseon looked nervously between them. "Well we can either go to the North Pole or somewhere in the Fire nation."

"Somewhere?" Kyohei asked.

"I'm not sure exactly, I have problems figuring them out. But I know exactly where the waterbender is in the North Pole! He's easy!" Miseon said happily.

"Alright, to the North Pole it is." Jeo-Hyung stood up.

"But how are we gonna get there? I don't think your camelephant can swim." Yi-zhu said looking out the window where Keecha stood eating fruit off of a nearby tree. Jeo-Hyung pulled out his map.

"We could take the ferry to Ba Sing Se over here and then find a merchant's ship to take us into the Northern port. Or we could go through the Serpent's Pass here if we can find a boat in town." Suddenly the sunlight was blocked for a quick moment and they heard a loud moan.

"What was that?" Kyohei looked around nervously.

"LOBA!" Yi-zhu shouted and ran out the door. He pulled out his bison whistle and blew it as hard as he could. The others ran out to see what he was doing. Their mouths dropped as they saw the giant sky bison flying towards them. Yi-zhu jumped into the air and hugged the forehead of the beast. "I missed you, girl! Are you feeling better?" Yi-zhu rubbed his hands in Loba's fur.

"Woah. I've never seen a sky bison before!" Miseon squealed.

"Come on, she won't bite." Yi-zhu motioned for Miseon to come closer to Loba. Miseon ran forward and ran her fingers through Loba's fur on her side.

"It's so soft!" She buried her face in the bison. Yi-zhu flew up to Loba's horn and untied a message. Yi-zhu read the message allowed.

"Yi-zhu, I hope Loba finds you well. I hope that you found what you were looking for. I must urge you to continue on your journey. My brother writes me to confirm our suspicions on your potential. You must find the other potentials and meet him in Wan Shin Tong's library. I have enclosed a map to find him, he will wait for you there. Be safe." Yi-zhu stopped but then saw there was more. "P.S. I have packed some fruit pies for you and your new companions in Loba's saddle." Yi-zhu's face brightened. "YES! FRUIT PIES!" In a flash Yi-zhu had rushed to the back and pulled out a package of the perfectly preserved fruit pies and brought them down to eat with the others. As they snacked on pies Miseon suddenly stopped.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" Jeo-Hyung asked.

"Keecha." Miseon began to cry. "She can't ride on Loba to the North Pole." The three men looked at each other.

"I was thinking about that as well." Kyohei said.

"We can't just leave her here on her own!" Miseon sniffled.

"Don't worry, it's ok. We'll figure something out." Jeo-Hyung hurried to comfort his daughter.

"Why don't we give her to that Bei Fong, guy?" Yi-zhu recommended.

"What?" They all asked in unison.

"Well Kyohei did promise to help pay for repairs, he could use Keecha as collateral and to help work on fixing his tavern up."

"Keecha as a working camelephant?" Miseon looked worried about the thought of it.

"Camelephants are used for far worse, Miseon. Would you rather us put her in the circus?"

"NO!" Miseon immediately rejected.

"Then to Mr. Bei Fong it is." Jeo-Hyung said and rubbed his daughter's back. Once they had finished snacking they took Keecha back to the destroyed tavern. Chen Bei Fong was inside hammering boards together. Miseon held on tightly to Keecha's reigns.

"Oh, back to destroy the rest of my tavern, have you?" Chen folded his arms as he spotted the group.

"Actually, we've come to begin paying our debt to you." Yi-zhu said and helped lead Keecha forward. Miseon held on tighter.

"This is our camelephant and we'd like to give her to you to help in your work and as collateral until the full debt is repaid." Jeo-Hyung explained. Chen Bei Fong raised an eyebrow at them suspiciously.

"What's wrong with it?" He began examining Keecha.

"Nothing is wrong with her and her name is Keecha!" Miseon shouted.

"Keecha? Strange name for a camelephant."

"Why? What would you have named her?" Kyohei asked.

"Cammy." Chen said happily. The four travelers looked at each other in disbelief.

"Well, what do you say? Do we have a deal?" Jeo-Hyung asked. Chen seemed to think it over for a moment before nodded his head and shaking Jeo-Hyung's hand.

"You must promise to treat her well and make sure she gets plenty of berries. She loves berries." Miseon commanded as her father pulled her off of Keecha.

"Of course, little miss." Chen Bei Fong patted her on the head. Miseon quickly gave Keecha a tight hug.

"I'm gonna miss you, Keecha." Keecha's trunk wrapped around Miseon and patted her on the back. "We'll come back for you, ok?" Miseon called to her as Chen Bei Fong walked away with her camelephant.

_3 days later in the North Pole..._

Kasho knocked on the frozen door of Akoto's house and Akoto's mother answered the door. She looked sad and weary.

"How is he doing?" Kasho asked with apprehension and worry.

"Better now that he's warm and bandaged up. Come on in, he's been wanting to see you." She opened the door wider to let him in and lead him towards Akoto's room. As Kasho walked through the house he saw Akoto's father sitting at the table, not moving, and looking as though he was concentrated on a deep thought with his forehead furrowed and his arms straight on the table.

"Akoto, Kasho is here to see you." His mother knocked on the door three times.

"Let him in." Akoto's voice came but it was scratchy and weak. She opened the door and Kasho walked in to see his friend laying on his bed wrapped in bandages and furs.

"Hey, buddy, how you feeling?" Kasho sat on a stool next to his bed.

"Better than yesterday and the day before that." Akoto sat up, his voice no longer scratchy and weak. He sat up full of energy.

"Are you sure you should be moving that much?" Kasho went to help him.

"I'm fine, really." Akoto smirked.

"You're faking!" Kasho whispered angrily.

"Shh!" Akoto put his hand over Kasho's mouth.

"So what happened the other day? I heard you were attacked by polar wolves!" Kasho whispered.

"I was, but did you forget who I am? I'm one of the best waterbenders there is!" Akoto said proudly. "Those wolves didn't stand a chance."

"Yeah I bet they just decided that you weren't worth eating from the taste of conceit and pride and in your flesh." Kasho rolled his eyes.

"Maybe but something important happened."

"What?"

"Well, you know the mystery firebending girl?" Akoto began. "She's real."

"No way!"

"Yeah! Her name is Azara." Akoto pulled out the drawing of her. "So my dad and I had another argument the other day and he flipped out about her because he went through my stuff and looked through my sketchbook. Well it turns out that last week he got this letter in the mail that was addressed to me but he won't let me see the letter. All he showed me was the bride purchase application for Azara."

"Bride purchase? What?" Kasho looked confused.

"I don't know. But I need you to help me find the envelope it came in so I can see who sent it to me."

"Well where is it?"

"It's in my dad's bag."

"And how are we supposed to get it?"

"That's where I need you. I need you to distract my parents while I go and get it from his bag."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"Make conversation! Get him to go outside or something. Come on, you gotta help me out. You owe me."

"How do I owe you?"

"Well, who was the one who introduced you to Kaula in the first place?

"Alright, alright." Kasho sighed and got up and opened the door. Akoto got up and listened for Kasho to start talking, however, not three seconds had passed when Kasho came back.

"You're dad isn't even here and your mom wants to talk to you." Kasho said and Akoto looked confused. He walked out to the table where the envelope and sketchbook sat open. His mother stood in the kitchen cooking.

"Mom? What's going on?" Akoto said warily.

"I sent your father to go fetch some sea prunes for dinner tonight which means you have about twenty minutes before he gets back to go through your things and put them back in his bag."

"Mom? Are you serious? You don't mind?"

"Mind what? I'm in the kitchen making dinner while you're sick in bed and Kasho left to go eat at Kaula's." His mother said not turning her back. Akoto and Kasho smirked and quickly hurried to the table. Akoto studied the envelope but there was no return address on it, however, when he opened it the bride purchase application was not the only thing to fall out. There was a badly scribbled note inside.

"Waterbender, you must come soon. Fill out this application and bring with you thirty gold pieces to the Fire Ladies Bride House in Takefu. You must come."

"That's it?" Kasho asked and pulled the note from him and looked it over.

"That's all it says. Where am I gonna get thirty gold pieces?"

"Moreover, how are you gonna get to the Fire Nation?"

"Ugh." Akoto's head fell to the table as he sighed.

"Oh what is this I see here?" His mother said from the kitchen. "Why this canister of sea salt is filled with gold pieces and not sea salt at all. Whatever shall I do with it?" She turned with a smirk and placed the canister on the counter near Akoto and Kasho. "Akoto, when you feel better would you mind going to the store to tell Luko that he sold me a canister of gold pieces and not sea salt?"

"Sure mom. I'll do that." Akoto smirked and took the canister.

"We still haven't worked out how to get to the Fire Nation." Kasho pointed out. Suddenly they heard people outside shouting and hollering.

"What's going on?" His mother asked and they all hurried outside. They followed the mob of people running down the lane to get a closer look at something massive that apparently had fallen from the sky. Akoto rushed forward with his mother and friend and in the middle of the square there stood a flying bison. Getting off of the bison were three men and a little girl. The older of the men was asking people if they'd seen someone and was holding up a drawing. Akoto tried to get a better look as everyone was squishing together to get a good peak at the bison which so rarely was seen in the North Pole. Akoto was suddenly pushed forward by the crowd and the small girl shrieked with joy.

"That's him! That's the waterbender!" She shouted and all eyes turned to him...including his father's who was standing in the opposite side of the crowd.

"Uh-oh."

* * *

><p>"Uh-oh." Azara said as she looked out the window and saw a massive red carriage pulling up to the bride house. All of the girls were plastered to the windows looking at who could possibly be arriving at the school. Azara slowly moved back away from the window and to the wall. She sank down onto the floor. Kaida hurried up next to her.<p>

"What's wrong?" Kaida sat next to her.

"Kaida." Azara took her sister's hand. She was about to explain when Mistress Ulla came in.

"Azara." She called and all of the girls turned to stare directly at Azara. Mistress Ulla looked around at the girls. "Come on, it's time for your lesson." Azara wasn't sure if Mistress Ulla was actually giving her a firebending lesson or just trying to not hint that the men in that carriage had come for her. Azara slowly got up and Kaida held onto her hand.

"Kaida, I'm afraid this lesson is just for Azara." Azara took Kaida's hand out of hers and kneeled down.

"It's ok." She kissed Kaida's cheek and stood back up. Mistress Ulla led her out of the dorm and, to Azara's relief, out to the training grounds. In the training circle there were several dummies propped up on sticks.

"Thank the spirits, we're actually training." Azara said in relief.

"Well, partially. You have an audience today." Mistress Ulla motioned to the veranda outside of Headmistress Luzina's office. Azara cautiously looked back to see the Fire Sage and a man whom Azara could only assume was his son as well as Headmistress Luzina staring down. "The first stage of courtship has begun." Mistress Ulla said painfully. Azara quickly looked away and felt her lungs tighten. She took a deep breath. The process of purchasing a bride begins with the stages of courtship. The first is a demonstration of the bride's firebending capabilities. If the groom is not impressed he will cancel the purchase and can either select another bride to look at or decline entirely. If he likes what he sees then they move on to the second stage. Azara thought about just pretending to be bad at firebending but Mistress Ulla would surely call her out on it and she remembered what Lue had told her. She had to accept this in order to keep Kaida safe.

"Whenever you're ready, Azara." Mistress Ulla instructed.

Azara took a deep breath again. For Kaida's sake, she would perform. By now, all of the other girls were watching from the windows of the school as well.

She focused her center and in one swift kicking movement she began her display of power. Azara was flexible and fast. She moved around almost as fast as the flames shot out of her limbs. One by one the dummies were being destroyed, burned to ashes.

"Azara is a very talented bender." She could hear Headmistress Luzina speaking about her to the Fire Sage and his son as Azara moved around the training grounds bending the flames that burned within her breath. "She hasn't been here long but she has a natural adaptability and patience for perfecting the art. She's quick to move and even quicker to strike."

"She moves like a dragon." The son commented. "I like that." Azara stopped firebending and stood surrounded by the burning dummies. Suddenly lightening lit up the sky and thunder boomed. No one had even noticed the storm rolling in as the rain began to pour down. "Might I test her defenses?"

"It's not exactly traditional but I suppose." Headmistress Luzina agreed.

The son stepped out to the grounds. Mistress Ulla bowed to him and motioned for him to join her. Azara turned to face the man that without doubt, no matter how much Azara protested this in her heart, would become her husband. She studied him for a moment. He was younger than what she had expected, perhaps a little older than Azara. He was handsome but had an aura of arrogant, pride that annoyed her.

"Well, Miss Azara, shall we begin?" He moved into a fighting stance.

"You're the one that wanted to test my defenses, it's your move." Azara moved into her own stance that was lower to the ground.

"Fair enough." He smirked and swung his leg around shooting flames at Azara who flipped backwards creating her own wall of fire in defense. She shot through it sending fireball after fireball his way. The son ran to the side near the dummies. He jumped out and thrust his hands forward at her sending a massive brush of fire at her. Azara spun to deflect it when suddenly Azara felt the hairs of her arm begin to rise. She could feel the energy gather around their training ground. She gasped and rushed at him. The son didn't seem to understand what was happening and continued to shoot fire at her. Azara deflected, taking his fire and throwing it to the sides. She jumped into the air just as lightning went to strike him down. She pointed her fingers just as it struck and the lightning went through her body and she deflected it through herself and out of her other hand to strike a nearby tree.

"AZARA!" Kaida shouted and ran out to the grounds as the son caught her.

"Miss Azara!" The son shook her but Azara lay unconscious.

**A/N: **DUN DUN DUN! yeah, I thought I'd add that just for fun. Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	11. Chapter 10: Rushing and Stalling

**Disclaimer:** All these characters are belong to me. All their Universe are not belong to me...

Akoto had been sent to training with Master Rohka while his father spoke with the four newcomers. He tried to focus on his movements but his thoughts kept drifting to the foreigners and what reason they had come for him. Master Rohka watched him carefully and Kasho seemed just as anxious to figure out what was going on. All they knew was that Akoto was not allowed to return home until his father came to get him. Akoto took a deep breath and practiced the slicing motion with a small waterblade he was moving through the air when he felt that something else was watching him. He stopped to look up at one of the icy buildings behind him but saw nothing.

"Akoto?" Kasho asked and looked to the same spot Akoto had been staring at. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Akoto turned back to training. "I thought I saw something, that's all." Akoto continued his practice. Kasho looked to Master Rohka who only nodded his head with an expression of regret.

At Akoto's house, things weren't looking very good…

"No. Absolutely not. I forbid it." Akoto's father, Akaron, sat with his arms folded at the head of the table in his house. Surrounding him at the table were Jeo-Hyung, Kyohei, Yi-zhu, and Miseon.

"Sir, I don't think you understand what we're saying." Jeo-Hyung began.

"Oh I understand very well and I absolutely forbid this. Akoto is staying here. End of discussion."

"I think Akoto can decide for himself." Kyohei interjected but Akaron cut him off by slamming his hands on the table.

"I don't know what kind of life you lived in the Earth Kingdom but up here in the North Pole, the head of household is the father and that's me so I say if he goes or not and he stays here!" He shouted.

"Don't you get it? If your son doesn't come with us the entire world could be in trouble! These shadow things are attacking, possessing people! If he is the Avatar how can you just keep him from his destiny like that?" Yi-zhu shouted.

"Avatar! Who really believes in that old wives tale anyways? An all-powerful bender! Ha!" Akaron scoffed.

"You knew about it?" Kyohei asked.

"I've known about it for quite some time, as does the rest of the high council. We just didn't know it was Akoto." Akaron went to sit down but then stopped himself. "No! It's not Akoto!" The group looked at each other in annoyance.

"Sir, please listen. We're not saying it is Akoto we're only saying it might be. Either way his destiny is intertwined with ours."

"Yeah, we all have a part in this." Miseon interjected. "I find everyone with my gift. I saw Akoto first actually but we had to find Kyohei because he was in trouble and we got really lucky when Yi-zhu showed up. And since we weren't exactly sure where the firebender girls were we decided to come here to get Akoto and go to the Fire Nation afterwards." Miseon babbled on but Akaron stopped her.

"Fire Nation? Firebending girl?" He stuttered and reached into his bag pulling out the envelope. "You sent this didn't you?" He slammed it on the table. They four looked at the picture.

"Hey that's one of the girls I saw!" Miseon exclaimed.

"We didn't send this. What is this?" Kyohei picked it up and examined it.

"That is a bride purchase application for some firebending tramp that was sent to my son." Akaron said with disdain.

"Could you just lighten up for a moment?" Kyohei said. Akaron glared at him. "Guess not." Kyohei mumbled.

"Look, we didn't send this to your son and I don't understand why you can't let him go. Your son is not meant to stay here all his life. His destiny has come for him and if he doesn't then who knows what kind of disaster might befall the world." Yi-zhu explained again.

"That's not my problem." Akaron stood up.

"It very well is your problem!" Jeo-Hyung jumped up and slammed his hands down on the table. "You live in this world and it's therefore your problem! You help run the society of the people here in the North Pole and their lives are in your hands! There is something coming after us and if you make Akoto stay with you, it will come for him too!"

"What?" This seemed to get Akaron's attention.

"Miseon." Jeo-Hyung motioned for his daughter to give him a drawing of the shadow creatures she had seen in her visions. She put the drawing on the table for Akaron to see. "These are the creatures that are hunting the potential Avatars. If he stays here alone, it will not only endanger your son's life but everyone else here as well." Akaron studied the picture longer.

"What are these creatures?" He asked slowly sitting back down.

"We're not sure yet. We just know they are very dangerous. One of them already possessed Kyohei once." Yi-zhu explained. Akaron looked to Kyohei who nodded his head.

"It wasn't fun." Kyohei looked down remembering being trapped by the possession.

"What do they do, exactly?"

"Well we're still not sure. All we've seen them do is possess people and use some kind of weird bending to attack." Yi-zhu tried to explain. Akaron seemed in deep thought for a while. The four travelers waited for him to speak but the silence dragged on and on.

Back at the training grounds, Akoto was still training. Master Rohka stopped him for a moment.

"Akoto. I think you best be leaving now." Master Rohka instructed, looking a little uneasy.

"But I can't. You heard my father, he won't let me come back until after those travelers have left and he comes to get me." Akoto said sourly. "I can't believe he wouldn't let me speak to them." Akoto kicked upwards sending a fountain of water towards a training dummy.

"Akoto." Master Rohka interjected but Akoto ignored him.

"I mean! They came for me! They were looking for me! Not him! I should be the one speaking to them! He can't keep controlling my life like this!" Akoto spun around sending the water slamming into the dummy.

"Akoto."

"I'm sixteen years old now! That's old enough to do what I want! But no! He wants me to be a good little boy and do everything he says without even caring about what I want! He's not a father! He's a slave owner! He treats my mom the same way! We should be free to speak our minds here but no! Not unless he says so!" Akoto sliced the dummy in half with another swift kick of water at the dummy, sliding the dummy's upper half to the ground.

"AKOTO! Watch out!" Master Rohka jumped forward and pushed Akoto out of the way. All Akoto saw was a giant wall of water before he face-planted into a pile of snow. When he scrambled out of it he turned to see Master Rohka attacking Kasho.

"Master Rohka! What are you doing?" Akoto rushed forward to help his friend but Rohka blocked him from going to Kasho. Kasho was hunched over, his face had darkened and his eyes had turned red. "What the?"

"Do you remember that visitor you saw a while ago?" Rohka asked, still blocking Akoto.

"Yeah." Akoto remembered the shadow figure he had seen while hung upside-down.

"It's back and it's here for you."

"For me? Why?"

"Because you have Avatar potential inside of you. Move!" Rohka pushed Akoto to the side as the possessed Kasho lunged forward at them. Kasho knocked Rohka over and blasted a dark energy at him sending Rohka into a wall.

"Master Rohka!" Akoto shouted but his master did not move and now it was just him and Kasho. Kasho stared him down breathing heavily and foaming at the mouth. Akoto couldn't see his friend clearly though. The darkness that festered inside of him now shadowed Kasho's outward appearance.

"Kasho, listen to me. This is not you. You don't want to hurt me or anyone else here." Akoto tried to talk to him. "Now just calm down and remember who you are. I don't want to fight you like this." Kasho suddenly charged at him. "But I didn't say I wouldn't!" Akoto moved his hands and moved himself along the ice and bending the snow into water around his arm to strike at Kasho who flipped out of control from the assault. Akoto circled back to Kasho who didn't seem affected from the impact before. Akoto jumped into the air and swung his hands around twisting himself to kick a large column of water at Kasho. Kasho jumped out of the way and at Akoto who ducked barely in time as Kasho's nails had become long sharp claws that missed Akoto's torso by a centimeter. Akoto spun around to see Kasho coming at him again but before Akoto could even think of attacking back a giant gust of wind shot Kasho into the river several meters away. Akoto looked to where the gust had come from and saw the four foreigners and his parents rushing towards him. Yi-zhu was the first to reach him.

"Are you alright?" Yi-zhu asked and Akoto nodded but was speechless. He wasn't sure what had just happened.

"Akoto! What happened?" His father rushed up to him.

"Kasho…something…I don't know. Is he ok?" Akoto panicked looking to the river where an unconscious Kasho lay floating on his back. Akaron bended the water to move up in a wave and carry Kasho over to them. He appeared to be back to normal. No fangs or smoky darkness surrounding him.

"He was possessed." Master Rohka's voice came. They looked behind them to see Rohka dusting the snow off of his robes. He walked up to them and studied the unconscious Kasho. "It's gone now. It must have fled upon your arrival." Rohka waved his hands and extracted the cold water from Kasho's clothes and hair, tossing it to the side. Rohka slapped Kasho's face a couple times before he finally came to.

"Woah, what happened?" Kasho asked groggily.

"You tried to kill me." Akoto said and Kasho's head shot up to him. "Oh it's ok though, it wasn't really you. You were possessed." Akoto patted him on the shoulder.

"Oh." Kasho frowned. "Sorry." They all smirked.

"Well, I think that kind of proved our point." Kyohei said and they all turned to Akaron. "I think Akoto should come with us now. Unless you'd like more of those things to show up and try to kill your son." Kyohei smirked. Akaron didn't speak yet, like he was trying to find a way to protest this.

"Wait, go with you? What's going on?" Akoto looked around in confusion.

"We came here to take you away because you're one of the four potential avatars like myself and Yi-zhu here. We need to go to the Fire Nation to find the last potential and find out which one of us is the actual Avatar and how to stop those creepy shadow things." Kyohei explained quickly.

"Oh." Akoto said as though still trying to process the information given to him. He shook it off thinking of the opportunity to leave. "So can I go, dad?" He looked to his father who was glaring at the others.

"Akaron." Master Rohka stepped up to him. "It's time to let him go. Whether you want it or not, Akoto has to leave you. He cannot stay here any longer. He is safer going with them than staying here."

"Is he? How do we know that? If those things are hunting the potentials then they'll be flocking to them! If he stays here we have a better chance of fighting them off!" Akaron argued.

"At what price? Think if those things possessed someone long enough to do some real damage or make us take the life of someone we love in order to stop them! Akaron! You cannot keep him here any longer. You must let him go." They all looked to Akaron again who was glaring at Master Rohka.

"Fine. Go!" He shouted at Akoto whose face brightened. "But as soon as you leave, don't even bother coming home!" He swiftly turned and bended the ice beneath him to storm home. Akoto's smile was gone and all eyes were on him now.

That night Akoto had packed his things, his mother hadn't stopped crying and his father hadn't come out of his study. The others were waiting for him where they had left Loba but Akoto needed to at least say goodbye to his parents.

"Mom." Akoto whispered.

"Oh Akoto!" His mother threw her arms around him sobbing.

"It's ok, mom. I'll be ok."

"I know you will." She smiled with tears streaming down her face. "Here." She had a bundle packed for him. "Here's some food and extra furs to keep you and your companions warm up in the air. And I packed some more money in case you need anything."

"Mom, you really don't have to-"

"Shush, yes I do. I'm your mother and I'm going to make sure you have everything you need." She held him tightly again.

"Thanks mom, I love you." Akoto kissed his mother's cheek. He looked to his father's study door and walked to it. "Dad, uh, I'm leaving now. I'm sorry." There was no reply. "I love you, dad." He said before hurrying out of the house.

Waiting for Akoto were his four new companions as well as Kasho, Kaula, and Master Rohka.

"Looks like you're finally going to get to do what you want to now, huh?" Kasho punched him lightly on the arm.

"Yeah, I guess so. It feels kind of strange though. I spent so much time dreaming about it that I never expected I'd actually be doing it." Akoto tried to laugh.

"Oh Akoto! We're going to miss you! We'll send word about the wedding. Think you can make it?" Kaula asked.

"Well I think I'll have to." Akoto smiled at her.

"Take care of yourself." Kasho shook Akoto's hand. "And when you find that firebending girl, well you know what I would do." He smirked and walked away so Master Rohka could speak to him.

"Master." Akoto bowed.

"Akoto, I hope you know that the reason I was hard on you was because I knew one day you'd have to face this." Master Rohka began.

"You knew?"

"I had my suspicions." He smirked. "Just be careful. The world is a lot different from up here."

"I know. Thank you for everything, Master Rohka." Akoto bowed again.

"And don't worry about your father, he'll cool down."

"I don't know about that, but we'll see." Akoto smirked.

"Here, I want you to take this." He held out a small box. Akoto opened it and inside was an un-carved betrothal necklace with tools for carving it. Akoto looked up at him in confusion. "Just in case." He smirked. "Now off you go!" Master Rohka bended the ice underneath Akoto to sending forward to the bison where his new companions were.

"Are you ready?" Yi-zhu asked. Akoto looked back at his friends and master who were waving to him. He took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I think I am."

"Let's get going then." They all climbed up into Loba's saddle and took off from the North Pole. Akoto opened the bundle from his mother, pulling out one of the furs and handed it to Miseon.

"You don't want to catch cold."

"Thank you." Miseon said happily. "I'm really glad you got to come with us. I was so scared you wouldn't be able to come at all!"

"Me too." Akoto smiled at the small girl. He was about to tie the bundle back up when he noticed an envelope on the side of the bag. Akoto picked it up opened it. Inside were the mysterious letter and the bride purchase application.

"What's that?" Miseon asked.

"My mom must have put it in here. I thought my dad still had it. It's the application for Azara." Kyohei and Jeo-Hyung crawled over to him while Yi-zhu stayed on Loba's head.

"So is this the firebender we're looking for, Miseon?" Jeo-Hyung asked his daughter.

"Probably. She's difficult to see sometimes." Miseon rubbed her head.

"Something else is definitely there that's preventing us from seeing her." Yi-zhu commented.

"Really? I don't seem to have any problems seeing her in my dreams." Akoto pulled out his sketchbook and flipped through the photos.

"Wow, you drew these?" Kyohei said looking through the book.

"Yeah, it's just a hobby. When I started dreaming about her about a month or so ago I couldn't stop drawing what I saw. I thought she was just something I imagine but then that envelope came and told me to come to Takefu with thirty gold pieces and to fill out the application." Akoto explained.

"She seems angry most of the time." Kyohei said as he flipped from picture to picture.

"Yeah, I can never hear what's going on, I only see her. But she doesn't smile a whole lot. I think she's in a lot of pain." Akoto took the book back and stared at the photos. "Anyways, how long do you think it'll take to get there?"

"Loba's the fastest sky bison of her time." Yi-zhu bragged. "I'd say a few days. A week at tops as long as she gets lots of food and rest in-between."

"Well I hope we get there sooner rather than later." Akoto said tightening his grip on the sketchbook.

"Why do you say that?" Jeo-Hyung asked.

"I just have this feeling that we need to hurry." Akoto looked out to the horizon.

* * *

><p>"We need to hurry. If they found out what we're doing they will most certainly attack here." Sage Izan's son spoke to his father in the hallway. Kaida was crouched by the door eavesdropping on their conversation.<p>

"I know but we don't have much of a choice but to wait right now. She was struck by lightning and she survived! She just hasn't come to yet." His father explained.

"I know, but in her weakened state we could move her out of here."

"We can't. Headmistress Luzina won't allow us to take her without completely the process of purchase. If we take her now while that collar is on it will choke her and kill her. She's no good to us dead."

"This is a special circumstance! She's going to be my wife anyways! Can't we just speed up the process a bit?"

"Not while she's unconscious. Fuzon, you must be patient. We will succeed. Headmistress Luzina told me that Azara was one of the least likely girls to be purchased from this establishment. No other bidders will come to challenge us."

"Yet." Fuzon said smugly.

"Fuzon, no one knows what she is. If we get her and take her to the Great Sage first then we will win this before the other potentials are even spotted."

"Fine." Fuzon grumbled. Kaida hurried back into the infirmary room where her sister lay unconscious on a bed. She took her sister's hand and silently sobbed.

"Kaida, don't cry." Azara whispered. Kaida's head shot up and looked to her sister.

"You're awake!" Kaida almost shouted but Azara quickly covered her mouth.

"Shh! Do you want everyone to know?"

"Are you ok? That lightning-" Kaida trailed off.

"It went through me but it didn't hurt me. The shock just kind of knocked me out."

"But how? It's lightning!"

"Lue once told me about lightning and how it was just as bendable as fire was to us. I guess I redirected it or something."

"Wow." Kaida looked up at her sister in amazement.

"It was terrifying though and I don't want to do it ever again." Azara remembered the incident. "What's the news with sage and son?"

"They're trying to take you away. But you can't go with them!"

"Kaida, I have to go with them."

"What?" Kaida almost began crying.

"I spoke to Lue and he told me that they would come for me and I would have to go with him."

"But what about the other benders? The waterbender and the earthbender and the airbender?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Lue told me that these benders and their companions were coming to take us away."

"Wait, Lue told me that the man who came to get me would, whether I liked it or not, be my husband. Are you saying it's not the Fire Sage's son?" Azara shook with anger as Kaida shook her head. "You know it wouldn't kill Lue to be a little more specific sometimes? I could've pretended to suck at firebending and had them call the whole thing off!" Azara fell back on her pillows angrily.

"We just have to stall. They'll be here soon."

"How do you know when they'll be here?"

"Lue said so."

"Did Lue give you a specific date?"

"No."

"Didn't think so." Azara put a pillow on her face. "Alright, I'll stall as much as I can. You should go to dinner." Azara closed her eyes pretending to be unconscious and Kaida hurried away. Azara wondered how long she could stall this purchase before someone took her away. She'd rather just fake a coma but then they'd send in doctors who'd know she was faking. For now, Azara tried to sleep.

**A/N:** Thanks for reading and reviewing! As you can see I'm experimenting with ways to do the scene changes but it's still pretty frustrating…oh well! Also, the revised chapters are currently being uploaded. Nothing has really changed but edited a bit more and stuffs. XD


	12. Chapter 11: A Firey Greeting

**Disclaimer: **I own the characters but not the universe.

Miseon, Akoto and Kyohei sat together on the back of Loba as they flew through the air. Jeo-Hyung and Yi-zhu seemed to be in deep conversation on Loba's head. They had already made two stops on their journey to the Fire Ladies Bride House. Kyohei seemed to have taken a lot of interest in the girl known as Azara and he liked to look at Akoto's drawings of her. Akoto held onto the bride application thinking about what it meant. Miseon sat next to Akoto. She was wrapped in one of his furs, not because it was cold, in fact it was quite warm, but she liked the feel of it.

"So do you think you'll have to actually buy her?" Miseon asked. Kyohei's head shot up to listen to Akoto's answer.

"Uh...well…" Akoto struggled. "They did send me the application for her. But I think maybe this is only a precautionary step. I'm sure when we get there they'll be understanding and let her go, right?"

"Ha, yeah right. You clearly don't know anything about bride houses." Kyohei laughed.

"Oh and you do?"

"Sure, they have a few in Ba Sing Se. My dad travels there a lot to sell our crops and my brothers and I go with him."

"So what's a bride house, then oh knowledgeable one." Akoto teased.

"The rules regarding the brides in the houses are strict. They are not allowed to leave the house until bought by an eligible man after a long term of courting. Depending on the pair, courting can take up to a few days to a few weeks. It begins with the girl displaying her bending abilities which all brides have to have. Non-benders are not allowed."

"Why not?"

"This is the interesting part. I heard it was because the wife travels with the husband and is always with him at his most vulnerable moments like when he's sleeping and such. If one has a powerful bender as a wife, the chances of assassination slim down quite a bit so the wife is technically also his bodyguard."

"But what if she doesn't want to marry the guy that purchases her? Couldn't she kill him and run away?"

"She could, but she probably won't."

"Why not?"

"I don't know, they're obedient? They've gone to school training specifically for this. To them it's their duty, their job."

"Marriage shouldn't be a job…" Akoto looked down at the girl. "No wonder she's angry all the time."

"Huh?" Kyohei asked.

"Every time I see her in my dreams, she's angry and upset. She always looks like she's in pain."

"Maybe she's sick or something."

"She's not sick. She's unhappy." Akoto defended. "I've seen enough of her to know."

"Alright, alright." Kyohei backed off. "But if you're all against this purchasing thing, I'll do it."

"Hey, the application was sent to me, not you." Akoto took his sketchbook out of Kyohei's hands.

"I'm just saying you seem like you don't want to marry her. I'm completely willing." Kyohei smirked.

"No one will be marrying her, we'll figure out a way to get her out of there without marrying her." Akoto stood up and walked over to Yi-zhu and Jeo-Hyung.

"How much longer?" Akoto asked.

"We were just thinking of stopping in that village down there before crossing over water again so Loba can eat and rest."

"Stopping again?" Akoto groaned.

"Hey, why don't we all get on your back and see how long it takes us? We're going as fast as we can right now." Yi-zhu snapped.

"Sorry, I'm just worried about her."

"Did you have another dream about her?" Jeo-Hyung asked.

"No. That's why I'm worried. The closer we get the more I feel like I'm losing sight of her."

"I stand by my theory that something is protecting her." Yi-zhu said as they began to descend into the village.

"Like what? What is capable of blocking monks and little girls with visions?" Akoto asked rubbing his hair from frustration.

"I don't know. Maybe another monk? I've met some pretty powerful spiritual leaders that can do that."

"But she's at a bride house. There isn't any sense for a monk to be there."

"Calm down, we'll figure it out." Jeo-Hyung stopped them. "It's almost sundown. Let's just go down to this village and get some food and rest before heading to Takefu in the morning."

"According to the maps Takefu is on a small island not far off the coast here. It's right next to Shu Jing. It won't take us long after this stop to get there." Yi-zhu explained.

"Fine." Akoto sat back down in the saddle to prepare for their landing.

The village was just as average as any other village in the Earth Kingdom. There was a small bazaar to buy foods and Loba wasn't the only sky bison there. There was a large pasture where other sky bison, ostrich horses, eel hounds, etc where grazing. Akoto, Kyohei, and Yi-zhu walked together while Jeo-Hyung took Miseon to buy some supplies.

"So after we find Azara, where are we going?" Akoto asked.

"The Great Library. Apparently there is information there about us and what we're supposed to do." Yi-zhu explained.

"I just don't get it at all. You know, what we are." Kyohei began. "I mean, I get that one of us is some all-powerful bender but what I don't get is what that exactly entails. Why us and why only one of us?"

"Questions that will hopefully be answered at the Library." Yi-zhu answered. "All we can do now is find Azara and head to the library."

"Yeah and hope those shadowy things keep off of our tails." Akoto added.

"What do you guys think they are?" Kyohei asked.

"I don't know. Angry spirits, maybe?" Akoto suggested.

"I don't think so. They don't seem to have the same makeup that a spirit would." Yi-zhu discarded. "Maybe they're..." But Yi-zhu didn't finished his sentence as the three benders noticed how quiet it had gotten and how everyone was staring at them. Everyone's faces seemed strange. Just like Kasho's had been in the North Pole and how Kyohei's had been in Gaoling. It was as if a heat mirage was fogging their face from actually being clearly seen.

"Uh, guys." Akoto stuttered. "What's going on?" Suddenly the townspeople began hissing and growling.

"Uh-oh. Run!" Yi-zhu ordered and they all took off running in different directions just as the townspeople lunged. Yi-zhu whipped out his glider and soared into the air. He turned and kicked his foot bending a cyclone of air at the people chasing him. Suddenly a rock flew up at him that barely missed Yi-zhu who spun his glider to avoid the other attacks from his pursuers. He only hoped his companions were safe as he took off into the air looking for them.

Kyohei was running as fast as he could and bending the earth behind him to punch walls from the ground to stop his attackers but they seemed to be coming from everywhere. From the side streets, from the windows, even from the rooftops. It was as if they had all gone mad. Suddenly three men jumped in front of them, in a split second Kyohei quickly bent the ground beneath him to move them into a wall.  
>"Sorry!" Kyohei shouted as he continued to run.<p>

"Kyohei! Grab on!" Yi-zhu called. He was flying to him but he wasn't the only one in the air. Miseon and Jeo-Hyung were riding in the saddle of Loba and they were flying to him. Yi-zhu held out his hand and Kyohei punched towards the earth beneath him and propelled himself up into the air to grab hold of Yi-zhu. They soared up to the Flying Bison and Yi-zhu set him down in the saddle.

"Where's Akoto?" He called.

"I don't know! We haven't seen him yet!" Jeo-Hyung answered as he guided Loba through the sky. Yi-zhu flew on trying to find where Akoto had gone. Although, it became easy as the mob of possessed townspeople had all directed their attention to one location.

"He's heading for the sea!" Yi-zhu circled back to Loba. He landed in the saddle and took over Loba's reigns. "Come on girl!" Loba groaned and started flying faster.

Akoto ran and ran away from the mob chasing him but they seemed to have tripled in numbers within the last minute or so. Akoto whipped out his pouch of bending water and let the water crawl up his arm. He whipped the water around so that it grabbed people and moved them out of his way. He saw in the distance the blue of the ocean. Akoto tried to speed up his running but the people were gaining on him and throwing whatever they could find at him trying to knock him down. Akoto used his watery whip to deflect the objects but he was getting tired and his legs were getting weaker. He felt as though something was creeping up on his back. He felt a dizziness begin to come over him

.

"What is that?" Miseon shouted from Loba's saddle. The group looked down onto the crowd that had suddenly been covered in a shadow that was emitting from their bodies. It was like a giant dark hand reaching for Akoto.

"I don't know." Jeo-Hyung held his daughter back as they watched the black mass gain on Akoto.

"Akoto!" Yi-zhu shouted and moved Loba to go lower. Akoto looked behind him and saw the black mass gathering. His eyes widened and he pushed forward moving his water whip under his feet bending it into ice to propel himself faster into the water. He kept bending to reuse the ice he had skated on to move in front of him letting him reach the water just out of the dark hand's grasp and into a slide of ice so he could jump into the air. Yi-zhu directed Loba underneath Akoto as he fell into the saddle and they hurried off. They heard a roar of the darkness and watched it dissipate and return the townspeople to normal.

"That was close." Akoto tried to catch his breath.

"You ok?" Kyohei asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Akoto examined himself.

"Looks like we have no choice but to press on to Takefu." Jeo-Hyung said.

"Great! I can't wait to meet them!" Miseon said with excitement and leaned on Loba's saddle to watch the horizon as the sun set.

* * *

><p>Azara had pretended to be ill from the lightning as long as she could but she didn't know how much longer the Fire Sage and his son, Fuzon would wait. She was restless tonight. She needed to walk, to breathe fresh air. She checked to see that no one was around watching her and she slowly crept out of bed. As she walked down the darkened hallways she thought about what she was doing. She didn't understand what she was and didn't understand why Lue wanted her to go with the Fire Sage. Why was it important? Why wouldn't Lue just remove her binding on her neck and let her and Kaida escape from here. What was the point in waiting around from someone to come and take her away? Was she not strong enough in his opinion?<p>

Azara's train of thought was cut off as she saw that Headmistress Luzina's office glowed with a flickering firelight. Azara crept forward slowly to listen to the muffled conversation she could hear.

"You must understand how pressured we are, Headmistress." The Fire Sage spoke.

"I understand that the Great Sage would like an audience with Azara but I cannot go against the traditions and procedures of this institution, either. We agreed on this already and Azara may go with you as soon as the process is completed provided you take Kaida with her."

"There isn't anything you can do? What if we paid double?" This made Headmistress Luzina' s eyebrow twitch with intrigue. "I suppose we could arrange a bit of expediency. Tomorrow is the Fire Festival, I suppose we could arrange for the purchase ceremony the day after."

"Thank you, Headmistress." She heard the clap of their hands in a handshake. Azara couldn't believe it. The day after tomorrow she would be leaving to see the Great Sage. Wait…Great Sage? Why did he want to see her? She was nobody. She was just a girl. A poor girl with no connections or anything. This intrigued Azara and she thought perhaps this is why Lue wanted her to go with them.

Azara suddenly heard something outside. She hurried to the window and saw something descend to the ground. It was large and she could hear whispered voices. She snuck out into the large gardens and crept forward.

"Yi-zhu! What happened?" She heard an angry man whisper.

"Loba's too tired to keep flying. She needed to lie down, I couldn't stop her!" Yi-zhu defended.

"Where are we anyways? Where did we land?" One boy came out of the bushes and into Azara's view. Azara immediately bended fire into her hands and shot a warning shot at the man.

"Who are you and what do you want?" She ordered holding a flame around her fist and pointing at the man.

"Woah." He backed up but then looked through the firelight and at her face. "Are you Azara?"

"What?" Azara moved the fire downwards to focus on his face. She didn't know him. She was convinced she had never met him before. He wore blue clothing and was definitely not from around here.

"Is it her?" Another man in green clothing came out. Azara held up her other hand filled with fire warning them not to come closer.

"You have trespassed on a Firebending Bride House. The punishment for which is having your bottom lit on fire on your way out." She moved into a fighting stance.

"Look we didn't know we were trespassing. Our Flying Bison got tired and landed here. We're not here to hurt anyone, Azara." The man in blue spoke.

"How do you know my name?"

"It's her! It's one of the firebenders!" Miseon ran forward.

"Miseon!" Jeo-Hyung hurried to hold her back.

"What is going on here? I demand answers now!" The fire in Azara's palm engorged for a moment with her anger.

"Azara, calm down. We're not here to hurt you. We're here to help you get out of here." Akoto took a step forward.

"Stop calling me by my name! I don't know you! I don't want to know you! I already have my ticket out of here so just leave before I burn you to ashes!" Azara stumbled backwards. This didn't make any sense. Why were these men after her too? Were they the benders Kaida had spoken about? But no...it couldn't be, there were too many of them. Azara decided they were probably just slave traders or something.

"Please listen to us!" Miseon rushed out of her father's arms. Azara looked down at the small girl. She didn't want to hurt the child but if she was just a trick to get her to let them into the house she was not against at least knocking the girl out. "We came here to protect you. There are bad things out there and they're coming here for you."

"What's coming?" Azara asked.

"We're not sure what they are. But they are dangerous. You're in danger. We're all in danger. We have to get out of here fast." Miseon explained.

"Look, kid." Azara bent down to her. "I'm touched, really. Thanks for caring but I'm fine."

"You don't get it. You haven't seen what's coming." Akoto said.

"Big shadowy things that possess people?" She looked up to him with annoyance.

"How did she know that?" Akoto looked to Jeo-Hyung who shrugged.

"I'm not so clueless to what's going on in the world. I suggest you leave now." Azara turned away.

"Wait!" Akoto rushed forward. "I'm supposed to do this. I'm supposed to get you out of here." Akoto felt confused.

"Yeah well you're gonna have to end up paying triple my original price if you want me out of here with you." Azara continued walking.

"And how much is that?" Akoto folded his arms. Azara turned around and rolled her eyes. She shot a fireball directly at them causing them all to jump out of the way and back up.

"Thirty gold pieces. Now leave." She warned.

**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Things are about to get pretty heated! Get it? Heated? Cuz they're at the firebending house? Yeah, bad puns are my specialty. XD Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	13. Chapter 12: The Bid

**Disclaimer: ** I own the characters but alas, not the universe.

The group sat around a campfire on the outskirts of the bride house. Akoto stared into the flames, grasping Azara's application tightly. He didn't get it. He didn't understand what just happened. They had found her but she already knew about the shadow creatures. She was different from what he had imagined.

"So what do we do now?" Yi-zhu asked. They all looked at each other and then at Akoto.

"What?" He sat up.

"Well, you're the one that's convinced you have to get her out of there. Shouldn't you have a plan?" Kyohei said.

"Right, a plan." Akoto stood up and began to pace. "Well she said she'd cost triple her original cost which is thirty gold pieces. In the letter I got I was told I'd need thirty gold pieces which I have. So I simply have to go buy her tomorrow."

"It's not that easy." Jeo-Hyung said.

"What? Why not?"

"Kyohei." He looked to the earthbender.

"Once a bid is already in place for a bride, challenging that price leads to a duel."

"A duel?" Miseon squeaked.

"Usually an Agni Kai but since none of us are firebenders we can't call it that." Yi-zhu explained.

"Agni Kai?" Miseon whimpered.

"It's a firebending fight. Winner takes all, sometimes it's..." Yi-zhu trailed off.

"...to the death." Kyohei finished. Miseon gulped.

"Well, that's...um...potentially a problem." Jeo-Hyung said.

"No it's not! I'm sure it'll be ok." Akoto said. "I'm a master waterbender. Water extinguishes fire. How powerful could this guy be? I mean, guys who buy brides like this are usually aristocratic pompous rich people right?" Akoto said although his tone was unsure. "Right?"

* * *

><p>That morning the group saw that the village was bustling with music and vendors selling food. The main street was decorated with paper lanterns, flowers, and street performers. As they walked through the main road the air was filled with scents of spicy meat and hot sweets.<p>

"Can we get something to eat? It smells so good." Miseon pleaded.

"Sure." Jeo-Hyung agreed.

"We really need to get to the bride house." Akoto said anxiously.

"I'll go with you. This meat isn't very appealing to me." Yi-zhu said looking disgusting. "Kyohei, why don't you stay with them? Meet at the entrance of the bride house?"

"Fine." Kyohei looked down in disappointment.

"Come on Kyohei! I want a flying crab cake!" Miseon tugged him and her father towards the stand. Akoto and Yi-zhu hurried through the crowd. They made their way towards the large bride house which was the largest establishment in the entire village. It towered over the town like a feudal lord's mansion. As they got closer, however, they noticed it was getting more and more crowded with people gathering for some kind of event. Yi-zhu grabbed Akoto's wrist.

"What?" Akoto turned.

"Come this way." The boys ran through the side of the crowd to a small alley. Suddenly there was a blare of a trumpet.

"And now ladies and gentlemen! The Fire Ladies Brides will perform the Dance of the Fire Lilies!" The crowd cheered.

Yi-zhu twisted his hands around that sent Akoto on a gust of wind and onto a rooftop. Yi-zhu bended himself up so they had a clear view of the stage as the girls began their dance. Akoto scanned the girls until he saw Azara amongst them. She looked beautiful in the decorative red dress as she moved with the music being played in a graceful unison with the other girls.

"I can't tell which one she is." Yi-zhu said squinting his eyes to see.

"There, second to the left." Akoto pointed with a smile and a sigh. She looked so different on the stage than the way she had acted when they first met. Akoto could see how she masked herself but he knew who she really was. He had seen it in his dreams…right?

"Now the real question is where the Headmistress is, so we can place your bid." Yi-zhu looked around.

"Let's just wait and watch." Akoto said and stopped him, his eyes never leaving Azara's.

"You do know how creepy this obsession over her is, right?" Yi-zhu raised an eyebrow.

"Uh-huh." Akoto said not even listening.

"Great." Yi-zhu rolled his eyes and sat down to wait. He could only hope Kyohei, Jeo-Hyung, and Miseon would hurry up.

* * *

><p>"Well come on, let's head to the bride house!" Kyohei said anxiously.<p>

"I don't know if we're going to get through that crowd, yet." Jeo-Hyung looked to the mass of people watching the dance. Kyohei looked down in discouragement.

"Hey, wait a minute." Miseon said with her eyes fixated on something.

"What is it, Miseon?" Her father kneeled down to her.

"That girl. She's the other firebender in my visions!" She pointed to a small girl handing out small tablets and advertising the bride house. Miseon walked up to her slowly , mesmerized by her. Kaida looked up at Miseon and froze, as if she knew exactly who she was.

"You're late." Kaida said with a pout.

"You know us?" Kyohei asked.

"I've seen you in my dreams. You're the ones who've come to take me away."

"And your sister." Kyohei said.

"You're too late, she's already being purchased."

"By who?" Jeo-Hyung asked.

"The Fire Sage Izan and his son, Fuzon. There was a mistake. Azara thought she was supposed to go with him but she's not! We have to go with you or something bad will happen to her."

"We know, we just need to talk to her. Our friend has money to buy her, triple the amount of her price. Can you help us?" Jeo-Hyung asked.

"He has to duel, you know. He has to duel the son of a Fire Sage." Kaida raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we need to find Akoto and Yi-zhu." Kyohei said nervously.

"Where are they?"

"Somewhere in that crowd."

"Come on! I can get you closer!" Kaida took Miseon's hand and guided them through an alley. They moved through the backstreets like a snake. She led them right to the building where Akoto and Yi-zhu were on top of. Kyohei picked up a rock and bended it to hit Akoto in the head.

"Hey!" He turned around and saw them. Yi-zhu and Akoto jumped down to them. "What are you doing? Azara's on stage!"

"This is Azara's sister." Miseon introduced her.

"I'm Kaida and you're late!" Kaida said angrily.

"What?" Akoto and Yi-zhu glanced at each other in confusion.

"Lue and I sent you that letter weeks ago!" Kaida folded her arms.

"You sent that!" Akoto pointed down at her.

"Yes! But now you're late and the Fire Sage and his son are going to take her away! You have to duel him and win!"

"Wait. Did you say the son of a Fire Sage?" Yi-zhu stopped her. Kaida nodded and Yi-zhu's eyes widened as he looked to Akoto. Akoto cleared his throat nervously.

"Well, he can't be that hard to beat, right? I can totally take him." No one reassured him.

"Come on, there's no time!" Kaida grabbed Akoto's hand.

* * *

><p>Azara was getting back into her uniform backstage. The other girls were gossiping and squealing about their performance and all the men they saw watching them. No one even noticed Headmistress Luzina walk in.<p>

"Azara." She called and the room went silent. Azara looked up in fear. "It's time for tea, come with me." Azara stood up and walked to her to go on to the next stage in courtship. Honestly, she would rather fight him again than do this part of the courting: having tea together. In this stage they would sit together in a room and get to know each other. Azara cringed at the thought of it.

As they walked down the hallway of the house they heard an argument. They stopped to see Headmistress Luzina's assistant calling to her while being chased by a group of men. Azara's eyes widened as she saw the people from last night.

"What's going on? I told you Nazu that all offers for the girls are to be submitted in an application for review. No walk-ins today." Headmistress Luzina tried to dismissed but her assistant Nazu stopped her.

"This one is important, ma'am. These men are here to place a bid on Azara." Nazu said nervously but Headmistress Luzina looked to them with a smile.

"I'm terribly sorry, sirs, but Azara is already being purchased. We have a plethora of other lovely girls for you to glance at in the front gate's portrait hall."

"I'm here for Azara and will take no other! I can pay you triple her price!" Akoto shouted out of breath while holding the sack of money. Azara glared at him.

"Triple?" Headmistress Luzina's eyebrows perked up. Azara's head snapped to her headmistress in shock. She wasn't going to allow this, was she?

"Nazu, take Azara to her meeting while I have a chat with these young men."

"Yes ma'am." Nazu walked to Azara and pulled her away. She watched Akoto smirk as they turned to go with Headmistress Luzina.

As the door opened Azara saw Fuzon sitting in the room waiting for her. He immediately jumped up and bowed with a grin. Azara curtsied before taking her seat on a cushion across a small table from him. They waited until Nazu had left before speaking.

"How are you?" He asked.

"Fine, thank you."

"I mean, since the lightning and all." He smiled.

"Oh right. Much better." Azara said awkwardly.

"I was worried, my father as well. We are hoping to take you tomorrow."

"Oh?" Azara pretended to not have known. "Why the rush?"

"I'm going to be honest with you, Azara." Fuzon stared into her eyes. "This marriage is not what you might think it is."

"Oh I have a feeling I know exactly what it is." Azara mumbled.

"I know that the girls here wait for a man to come and marry them to raise a family and live a nice, protected life but I'm only here because of what my father wants."

"You're not exactly flattering me." Azara said with annoyance.

"No, I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you that at first I thought this entire thing was just a mission. Just a task I had to complete for my father like always. I would probably never think of marrying a girl from a bride house." He said with disdain.

"Again, still not flattering." Azara's stared at him with her eyes narrowing at each word he spoke.

"Just, hear me out. That was before. After I met you and saw your abilities, learned about where you came from I began to think that this marriage wasn't such a bad idea. That what I was doing was good not just for my people but for me as well."

"You don't know me though. You don't know where I came from."

"Sure I do. You and your sister are from the mainland. You've mastered a great deal of firebending since you've been here, working hard to please Headmistress Luzina."

"No! Those are things she told you about me. You don't know anything about me! Me as a person!" Azara jumped up.

"I know! But I want to. I want to know who you are. That's what I'm trying to say. I'm glad that my father and the Great Sage asked me to do this. At first it was a responsibility, but even in this short time I feel that it's my destiny to be with you."

"What are you talking about? Why did the Great Sage ask you to marry me? Why would the Great Sage even know me? I'm from a little town in the middle of nowhere."

"That's the other thing I'm trying to get to." He got up and walked to her. "You have a great power inside of you and the Great Sage knows what it is. He wants you to come and become what you were meant to be."

"And what am I meant to be?"

"I'm not sure. Only the Fire Sages know it and even my father won't explain. But it's something big. Something important." Azara thought for a moment. "That's why I want to spend the time we have now to really get to know each other. Who knows what will happen when we get to the Caldera City." Azara stopped to think about what he was asking when suddenly the door opened with Fuzon's enraged father, Akoto, Kyohei, Yi-zhu, Jeo-Hyung, and Miseon along with Headmistress Luzina.

"This is an outrage! We even put a down payment on her! You cannot just allow this water tribe scum to come in here and try to snatch her from us!" Fire Sage Izan shouted.

"Hey! I happen to be from a very prosperous family in the water tribe!" Akoto defended. "And I'm paying triple for her!" Akoto shouted back.

"Father, what is going on?" Fuzon jumped up and Azara stood up in confusion.

"Azara has another bidder and since money is all that matters to this institution you will be dueling him." He pointed at Akoto.

"Hi." Akoto waved nervously.

"Just who do you think you are?" Fuzon stood taller in front of Akoto.

"What does that even matter? Could we just let this simple decision rest in the hands of the bride? It's her future after all." Jeo-Hyung suggested.

"That is not how it works around here." Headmistress Luzina explained. "Since you two are so desperate to purchase my Azara, though I don't understand why, you will have to duel. However, you are not a firebender."

"Which is exactly why we should be allowed to have Azara!" Fire Sage Izan said. "Firebenders belong with firebenders!"

"Says who?" Akoto fought back.

"Enough!" Headmistress Luzina shouted. "However, Akoto is a waterbender and therefore a duel is still possible. You will duel at sunset, understood?"

"Yes." Fuzon and Akoto glared at each other.

"Very well, Azara, come with me for preparation." Azara followed her out of the room while Nazu came to take the others away.

"Madame. Might I ask why you're allowing this?" Azara asked as they walked into one of the dressing rooms.

"He came with the sufficient bid, that is all." She walked over to the wall and slide it aside revealing a compartment filled with clothes.

"Might I ask a favor?" Azara looked down.

"What is it?"

"May I have a word with him before the duel? I want to understand his motives."

"Azara, you know we don't allow you to talk alone with men unless it is in the second stage of courting."

"But these are special circumstances due to the duel. Just half an hour will do. " Luzina looked down on her with a scrunched nose in debate.

"Ten minutes, that's all you get."

"Thank you." Azara bowed.

"But first, let's get you changed." She pulled out a dress that looked similar to the fire lily dresses worn in the show earlier with a few changes. It was called the auction dress and was worn only when girls were being dueled for. Once she was changed and Luzina and Nazu had finished her hair and makeup Azara was allowed to see Akoto who was waiting for her in the tea room. Akoto jumped up with a smile.

"They told me you asked to see me. Thank you." Akoto hurried up to her but Azara took a step back.

"We only have ten minutes so you better get explaining and I'll consider helping you."

"Hey, I'm the one dueling."

"Yes but who says I'd stay with you after the purchase. Don't underestimate me." She warned. "Now talk." Akoto gulped but reached for his bag.

"Look, I'm kind of new to this whole thing too but the others you saw me with are on a mission to find the Avatar. The Avatar is an all-powerful bender and to make a long story short, you, myself, and my companions Yi-zhu and Kyohei have the potential to become the Avatar. The old man, Jeo-Hyung has a daughter, the little girl Miseon who has visions and she's supposed to guide us on our journey. We have to leave here and get to the Great Library together to find out which one of us it is."

"Ok." Azara thought. "You're mistaken though, I can't be the Avatar."

"Yes you can. We're all connected. We're connected through visions and dreams. Miseon has visions of us and Yi-zhu has as well. Kyohei was possessed by one of those shadow things which is why he hasn't had any visions or at least that's what we think and I've been dreaming of you. Look." He pulled out his sketchbook with the pictures of her. Azara's eyes widened as she looked at all the pictures. "That's why you have to be part of this."

"That's not possible."

"It is possible." Akoto smiled. "For the longest time I thought you were just a figment of my imagination but when I found out you were real you wouldn't believe how happy I was. I want to help you get out of here. I know how painful it must be for you to live in this house without any freedom. I only want to purchase you to set you free, you won't have to actually be my wife…unless you want to." He mumbled the last of his speech.

"Really? You'd do that?" She looked up to him.

"Sure." His eyes met hers and they stared at each other for a moment. Azara shook herself out of the trance.

"I don't know. This still seems pretty strange to me."

"I know, I'm sorry to spring all this on you. It was a lot for me to handle too."

"No, it's not that. Actually, I already knew about all this time. I have this friend who told me but I had begun to lost hope. He told me that-"

"Times up, Azara." Headmistress Luzina came in.

"Good luck." Azara said and curtsied. Akoto smiled as he watched her leave. He took a deep breath as he thought about the duel. He watched the sky's color begin to change towards sunset.

"I have to win this." He told himself.

**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed that! Sorry it's been so long but I was really busy last week and this weekend. I got to go to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea though which was awesome amounts of fun! Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	14. Chapter 13: The Duel

**Disclaimer:** I own the characters, not the universe.

Kyohei, Yi-zhu, Jeo-Hyung and Miseon were sitting in a waiting room while Akoto and Azara were chatting. They were waiting for him to come back but when the door opened it wasn't Akoto who stood there, it was Kaida.

"What are you doing here?" Kyohei asked.

"There isn't much time, I wanted to talk to you about the plan to get us out of here." Kaida closed the door behind her.

"There is a plan, Akoto fights in the duel and marries Azara." Yi-zhu said.

"And did you think about if he doesn't win the duel?" Kaida said with annoyance.

"The squirt has got a point." Kyohei said.

"Don't call me squirt!" Kaida glared.

"Yes ma'am." Kyohei looked away in fear from the small child's death stare.

"Now, the biggest obstacle we have is the choker's we wear. I don't have one because I'm too young but the older girls wear them."

"You can't just take it off?" Jeo-Hyung asked.

"If we could do you really think we'd still be here?" Kaida raised an eyebrow.

"Go on." Jeo-Hyung fell to the death stare as well.

"The choker is made of this magnetic rock that's in the basement of the school. All the chokers are attracted to the rock so the further a girl walks away from the school, the tighter it becomes around her neck. If a girl runs away, the choker will…choke her."

"That's a bit overboard, isn't it?" Yi-zhu said.

"That's the way it is with bride houses. To take off the choker Headmistress Luzina has a piece of rock that repels the lock on the choker and releases the girl."

"Well if it's a piece of rock I'm pretty sure I can just bend it off of her." Kyohei sat up.

"Exactly. Now the fastest Headmistress would perform the ceremony is tomorrow morning and that gives us only tonight to get Azara out if the waterbender fails. If he wins then there isn't a problem."

"Actually there is." Akoto's voice came from the door. They all looked up to him. "I promised her I wouldn't actually marry her. We just need to win the fight to get the Fire Sage and his son out of the way. I say we still go for breaking you two out tonight." Akoto sat down.

"How was your chat?" Miseon asked with a sparkle in her eye.

"Cut short." Akoto answered while rubbing his head.

"Well, then tonight is when we break her out, win or lose." Kyohei said.

"I'll let you in tonight through the southern gate." Kaida got up. "I'll see you at the duel." She hurried out of the room.

"Everything ok?" Yi-zhu asked looking to Akoto.

"Yeah, just preparing myself." Akoto sat up and let out a deep breath.

* * *

><p>All of the bride house girls had gathered by the training ground to watch the duel between Akoto and Fuzon. Most of them were squealing about which one they liked better and had seemed to have divided themselves in the room. Kaida was sitting down next to Headmistress Luzina's chair waiting for her sister and the two opponents to come into the field. Nazu led Jeo-Hyung, Miseon, Yi-zhu, and Kyohei to their seats next to Kaida. Then Akoto and Fuzon came out from the sides of the field and stood at the circle drawn in the center. Then, Mistress Ulla came out of the house with Azara in her robes but there were some new additions: chains, and a blindfold. Mistress Ulla led Azara to the center of the field.<p>

"Why is she tied up like that?" Yi-zhu asked.

"You'll see." Kaida answered. There was a loud bang of a gong that signaled the beginning of the duel.

"It's time to begin. Today's participants in the duel competing for the purchase of Bride Azara are," Mistress Ulla looked to Fuzon.

"Fuzon, son of the Fire Sage Izan." Fuzon bowed. Mistress Ulla looked to Akoto.

"Akoto, son of the Water Tribe Council's Akaron." Akoto tried to mimic the style of bowing Fuzon did.

"The rules are as follows." Mistress Ulla began. "In that tree is a key to Azara's chains. Azara will be placed in the cage over there," She motioned to a large cage at the other end of the field. The first one to set her free and pull off her blindfold is the winner. The purchase ceremony will take place tomorrow at sunrise. Understood?"

"Yes." Fuzon and Akoto said in unison. Two other servants led Azara away to her cage. Akoto watched as they locked her in the cage. What kind of fight was this? He didn't agree with the rules at all but if that's what it would take he would do it. He looked to his opponent who seemed as determined as he was. Fuzon stared Akoto down waiting for the fight to start.

"Ready." Mistress Ulla looked between the two. "Begin!" Before Akoto could begin his own attack, Fuzon had jumped up and flung two fireballs his way. Akoto barely blocked them in time creating a steam to cloud his vision but he had heard where Fuzon was heading, towards the key. Akoto ran after him and bended the water in the pond to him and flung icicles at Fuzon who dodged and turned to send waves and streams of fire back at Akoto. Akoto couldn't let him get that key but then Akoto had a brilliant idea. He turned around and began running towards Azara's cage. Fuzon kicked back at Akoto to see why he wasn't attacking when Akoto bended more of the pond water to create a fog to cover his movements. Fuzon quickly changed his course to stop whatever Akoto was attempting when suddenly he heard the sound of breaking metal. Akoto had frozen the metal so cold that he could use his bending to break the lock on the cage.

"I'm coming Azara!" Akoto said as he walked into the cage but was met by a burst of flames erupting in front of him as Fuzon caught up. Akoto turned and whipped the water around him to strike Fuzon down. Akoto rushed behind Azara to bend the water around the lock to freeze it but before he could begin Fuzon tackled him. The two began wrestling around the cage and Azara struggled to get free on her own.

"We have to do something to help him!" Kyohei panicked.

"I have an idea." Yi-zhu whispered into his ear and Kyohei nodded in agreement. As subtly as he could Yi-zhu bended the air to knock the dangling key off of the branch and towards the cage. As soon as it landed Kyohei began moving the earth underneath it to take it closer to the cage. Luckily everyone's eyes were focused on the two men fighting in a cage rather than the key moving of it's own accord towards them. Kyohei then kicked the ground again to separate the two fighters.

"Akoto! The key!" Miseon shouted but suddenly fainted into her father's arms.

"Miseon!" He held her but her eyes had turned white with a vision. Yi-zhu kneeled down to help Jeo-Hyung and Kyohei stood to block anyone from seeing her. Akoto looked up to see the key inches away from him. He scrambled to grab it when he saw Fuzon taking off Azara's blindfold already trying to skip the chains. Akoto jumped forward and grabbed Azara as the blindfold slipped off. They stumbled to the ground. Akoto wrapped his arms around her to slip the key into the lock but as they landed their lips collided. Everyone froze as they witnessed the kiss.

"They will come with a thousand rages to destroy all hope of peace at the turn of the moonlight tonight." Miseon spoke in a strange voice to her father before her eyes turned back to normal. Yi-zhu looked up at Jeo-Hyung as he felt the electricity in the air run through him.

Azara's eyes were wide in shock matching Akoto's own surprised eyes but they turned into a smile as he turned the key in the lock behind her back.

"Yes! He did it!" Kaida shouted as the bride house erupted in cheers. Akoto helped Azara up and out of her chains. She seemed to still be in a state of shock.

"Uh, sorry about that." Akoto rubbed the back of his head bashfully but Azara couldn't speak, she seemed paralyzed from the kiss.

"No! This isn't right! She's mine! We already had an agreement!" Fuzon shouted angrily.

"Fuzon." Azara tried to calm him.

"You are supposed to be with me!" Fuzon went to grab her but Akoto pushed her behind him.

"Leave her alone!" Akoto shouted.

"Fuzon!" His father rushed to him. "Come on, you lost. We no longer have business here." He said calmly and then whispered something in his ear that seemed to calm him down. The two firebenders left the grounds immediately.

"You did it." Azara said but still seemed confused.

"I told you I would." He smiled. Azara stood in shock as the others hurried up to them. Miseon seemed to be back to her normal self again.

"Well done, Akoto." Jeo-Hyung patted hm.

"Thanks. I couldn't have done it without these guys though." Akoto patted Yi-zhu and Kyohei.

"What are you talking about? We just watched." Kyohei smirked.

"Well," Headmistress Luzina came up to the them with Nazu behind her. "Congratulations, you've won your bride. We can perform the ceremony tomorrow morning." The group cheered but Azara stood still in shock.

"Are you alright?" Akoto asked.

"What?" She looked up at him dazed but shook herself back to her senses. "Yeah, I'm fine." She looked to Headmistress Luzina.

"Well, if you gentlemen will follow Nazu, she will take you to the groom's house for the night."

"See you tomorrow, I guess." Akoto said before following out with the rest. Kaida slipped her hand into Azara's and shook her sister.

"Come on." She pulled Azara into the house and back to their room. All of the girls had gone to see Akoto and the others leave so they were alone.

"Kaida." Azara kneeled down to her sister. "I need to speak to Lue. Would you mind?"

"Sure. But I need to tell you the plan first."

"Plan?"

"Akoto said he wouldn't marry you against your well. We're going to sneak out and the earthbender will take off the choker so we can leave tonight."

"Really? He can do that?"

"I told him about the choker, it's made of rock so he can bend it."

"Wow, he's keeping his word." Azara felt her lips which still tingled from the kiss.

"Azara, what happened? Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Azara looked away.

"Really? Cuz I think you like him. You're blushing!"

"I am not. I'm just flustered." Azara got up. "Now, come on. I need to speak to Lue."

"Ok, ok." Kaida closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. When she opened her eyes they were glowing just like the eyes in the cave.

"Azara, there is a great danger." The voice from the cave spoke through Kaida's own mouth.

"I know, I felt it. It ran through me like this electricity." She didn't mention that it happened during her first kiss. "Is it the shadows? How did they find us?"

"No, but it's something with the shadows. There isn't time."

"Lue, I'm so confused. Who am I supposed to go with?"

"It's not about who you are supposed to go with. It's who you want to go with and who you know you need to go with for Kaida's safety." Azara sat back on her heels and thought about it. "I told you he would be good to you." Azara's head shot back up to her Lue-possessed sister. "It's ok to feel for him."

"I don't know what I feel." Azara shrunk back down. "But Kaida needs protection and I'll do what I have to for her. Just promise me you won't leave her."

"You're the one I'm not supposed to leave, but in this case I can abide."

"The others will come tonight, be ready to follow them."

"When am I to come for you?"

"You won't need to, I'll meet you at the Great Library, tell them that."

"As you wish." Kaida's eyes closed and returned to normal. Azara hurried to hold her as she fainted from using too much energy to connect with Lue.

"Azara." Kaida called in a weak voice. "Did Lue have good news?" She rested on her sister's bosom.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah he did. We're gonna get out of here." She patted her head knowing what she had to do.

* * *

><p>"Wow, this is really nice." Kyohei said as they looked around the groom's house.<p>

"Alright, Kaida said she'd let us in the house in four hours when everyone is asleep. At that time Kyohei and Akoto will remove the choker and get Azara and Kaida out. Jeo-Hyung, Miseon, and I will get Loba ready to go." Yi-zhu explained.

"Do you think we have enough time to get out safely?" Jeo~Hyung asked.

"What are you talking about?" Akoto asked.

"When you were fighting…actually when you were kissing Azara the atmosphere changed for a moment, everything kind of zapped and Miseon had a vision." They looked to Miseon.

"It was scary." She buried her face in her dad's leg.

"It warned us that something bad was headed in our direction." Jeo-Hyung explained. "We think it's the shadows again."

"She said that the come at the turn of moonlight with a thousand rages. When is the turn of moonlight?"

"Well that's pleasant." Akoto thought about it.

"Let's not stick around to find out." Kyohei jumped up from his chair. "Why don't we just go get her now?"

"Because we don't want to cause a commotion. We need to wait for the place to be quiet and when we're sure we can get safely out." Yi-zhu explained.

"I'm just saying that clearly if we wait we're going to have a commotion whether we want it or not."

"It's best to go about this calmly and not rush. Aren't earthbenders supposed to be patient?"

"Aren't airbenders supposed to be smart?" The two glared at each other.

"Enough! Someone's coming!" Miseon shouted as she saw a silhouette walk past the window. They all jumped up in preparation for an attack. There was a knock on the door and Jeo-Hyung cautiously opened it. They were relieved to see it was only Nazu holding a tray of drinks.

"Complimentary drinks for your new bride." She bowed and held up the tray.

"Come on in." Jeo-Hyung invited her but Nazu seemed nervous and the tray shook slightly as she walked inside and put the tray on the table.

"Please drink." Nazu said but her usual graceful manner seemed to be shaking all over.

"Nazu, are you cold?" Kyohei asked.

"No, of course not. I'm perfectly fine. Please drink." She motioned to the cups again but no one was taking them. They looked between each other in confusion but shrugged and each took a cup.

"Well, cheers to a successful duel." Jeo-Hyung said and the group clunked their glasses together and brought it to their mouths.

"DON'T DRINK IT!" Nazu leapt forward and knocked the glasses out of their hands spilling the contents to the floor. They were about to scold Nazu when they noticed the liquid burning into the flooring.

"What the?" They all stepped back.

"I'm sorry. They made me do it. But I just couldn't." Nazu shrunk to the floor sobbing.

"Who made you do it?"

"The Fire Sage." She looked down. They all looked up to each other with wide eyes.

"Azara!" Akoto shouted and ran out of the house.

* * *

><p>Azara tucked in Kaida to her bed and looked at her one last time before getting up and gathering her things into a cloth which she tied into a bag.<p>

"Oh good you're already packed." Izan's voice came. Azara jumped and spun around to see the Fuzon and Fire Sage Izan holding a knife to Headmistress Luzina's throat.

"What are you doing?"

"We're the rightful owners of you, Azara. We're seeing to it that we get what we came for."

"Azara, don't fight. Just come with us." Azara looked to the Headmistress.

"Azara, do it. Go with them, please." She begged for her life. Azara let out a sigh.

"I was going to find you anyways." Azara said flatly.

"You were?" Fuzon looked hopeful.

"I wanted to know why the Great Sage sent you for me, that's all." She explained shutting Fuzon down.

"Perfect, then we have no complaints. Release her from the choker." Izan ordered Headmistress Luzina. Azara walked forward and turned around holding her hair up as Luzina held up her wrist with the repelling rock to release the choker from around Azara's neck.

"What about Kaida?" Luzina whispered to her.

"Let her go with the waterbender." She whispered back. "Alright, boys, take me to your leader." She said casually and followed the Fire Sage and Fuzon out of the room. Suddenly they heard screams and booms coming from the village.

"What was that?" Fuzon asked and they all hurried to the window.

"It's time to go." Izan grabbed Azara's arm and pulled her out of the room with Fuzon following them. Luzina stayed looking out the window as she saw the village below begin to erupt into flames.

"Oh my spirits."

**A/N:** Hey everyone! I'm so sorry this took so long but life just got very busy here in Japan! My workload has amplified tenfold now but I'm going to try to get the next chapters up soon! Fear not, this story is not abandoned! Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	15. Chapter 14: Lue

**Disclaimer:** I own the characters, not the universe.

"Woah! Look out!" Kyohei shouted and bended a rock to block an attack from a burning sack of hay that came flying at them. The entire village was erupting into screams and flames.

"What is going on?" Miseon panicked.

"I don't know! I'm going to get a closer look. Here, call for Loba!" Yi-zhu gave Miseon his bison whistle and Miseon blew it as hard as she could. They heard the groan of the sky bison responding to the call.

"This is not good, guys. I've never seen the shadows do that!" Kyohei said.

"That's because it's not the shadows. It's something else." Jeo-Hyung said as the shadow of Loba's massive body covered them. She landed next to them and Jeo-Hyung helped Miseon climb into the saddle.

"We have to get Azara and Kaida now!" Akoto shouted and ran to the gates of the bride house and began climbing them. All the lanterns in the house were being lit and they could hear the panicked screams of the girls inside as they saw the horror coming towards them. They saw the fronts doors open and girls began trickling out and jumping to carriages. Suddenly the gates swung open and Akoto jumped down. The doors opened as the carriages began pouring out and down the side path away from the carnage going on in the village below.

"Where is she? I don't see her!" Kyohei shouted as he and Akoto looked for her. They saw Kaida come running out.

"Kaida!" Akoto shouted and she ran to him. Kaida's eyes were red with tears. "Where's Azara?"

"They took her!" She sobbed. "The Fire Sage kidnapped her! I fell asleep, I didn't mean to! When I woke up she was gone. Headmistress Luzina told me they took her! We have to stop them!" She began to hyperventilate.

"It's ok, we'll get her back. Let's go!" Akoto picked her up and they ran to Loba and hopped on.

"Yip-yip!" Jeo-Hyung commanded and Loba flew into the air to find where the Fire Sage had taken Azara while Yi-zhu tired to get a closer look at the attackers. He soared through the sky on his glider and saw the most gruesome sight. He didn't know what the beasts were; he had never seen something so ugly before. They only part remotely human was that they had two arms, two legs, and a head. Their faces were gray like patchy bits of ash formed their skin and with slime drooling from their mouths filled with decaying teeth. Their eyes were completely white with no pupil or iris. Some of them stood on two legs while other crouched and sprang around the buildings pouncing on villagers. Yi-zhu took a deep breath shot down towards the village bending a huge gust of wind to knock the beasts away from people so they could run. He could see dead bodies alright lining the streets and it pained Yi-zhu to watch such gore and malicious attacking. He wanted to stop this no matter what. Yi-zhu let out a scream and swung his arms around creating a cyclone of air. From a distance the group on Loba's back saw the tornado spring from the village.

"We should go help Yi-zhu!" Miseon shouted.

"I don't know, he looks like he's ok to me." Kyohei said in awe. Miseon glared at him.

"We need to get Azara, first. That's the plan right now." Kyohei tried to calm her down.

"We can't just leave him!"

"We're not leaving him, Miseon. We're going back for him as soon as we get Azara." Miseon slumped back on the saddle in worry. She looked across to see Kaida still crying in a panic. Miseon crawled over to her.

"Don't worry, we'll get your sister back."

"We've just never been separated. I can't talk to her like I can with Lue."

"Lue?"

"I see the carriage!" Akoto shouted and pointed down at a carriage racing down a path heading towards the ocean where a large ship waited. "Come on, Loba! Go faster!" He commanded. Loba let out a moan accepting the command and shot forward. "I'm coming, Azara." Akoto said quietly to himself.

"Oh my spirits…what is that?" Miseon stood up on the saddle and backed up into Kyohei. They all turned to see something big and black flying through the sky towards them.

"Loba! Faster!" Akoto shouted. They were gaining on the carriage when fireballs started shooting from the windows in an attempt to keep their cargo safe. Loba dodged the fire and closed in on the carriage but the black creature was gaining on them.

"Wow! No way! No WAY! Is that a black dragon!" Miseon shouted in both horror and glee. They all turned again but the dragon had shot above them and blocked Loba's path. Loba circled in the air to avoid crashing into the dragon.

"Loba! Go around him! Come on! They're getting away!" Akoto commanded but Loba didn't move. She was suspended in the air staring down the dragon, and the dragon stared back.

"LUE!" Kaida jumped up. "Lue! Save Azara! She's been kidnapped!" She shouted running to the front of the saddle.

"Azara does not need to be saved now." Lue spoke but there was no movement in his mouth. "Let her go. You will see her again."

"But why?" Tears began streaking down her face again.

"Your friend needs help. You should go to him." Lue commanded and immediately Loba turned to go after Yi-zhu.

"No! No! LOBA! Go back! Turn around!" Akoto tried to command the bison but nothing worked as the dragon followed them back to the burning village. They found Yi-zhu fighting in the square but they could see his exhaustion battling with his determination to stop the raid. Lue sped past Loba and flames erupted from his mouth terrifying many of the beasts to retreat. Loba let out a groan and swung her tail up before slamming it down creating a massive blast of air knocking more beasts out of the way. Kyohei and Akoto jumped down to help Yi-zhu.

"Why don't you call it a night?" Kyohei smirked.

"We'll take it from here." Akoto said and Yi-zhu smiled and flew up to Loba's saddle as Akoto and Kyohei began fighting off the rest of the beasts.

"Yi-zhu! Are you ok?" Miseon crawled to him.

"I'm ok. Those things are tough though." Yi-zhu said catching his breath. "Where's Azara?" He asked.

"She left." Kaida answered looking sad.

"You mean you didn't save her?"

"No, the big black dragon said not to." Miseon answered.

"His name is Lue." Kaida said loudly and clearly annoyed. "He's our protector."

"Doesn't a protector, you know, protect you?" Miseon said but Kaida glared at her. "Sorry." She turned back to Yi-zhu. "What are those things?"

"I don't know, they're strong though." Yi-zhu looked over the saddle to see Akoto and Kyohei attacking and the beasts were finally falling back.

***scene change* **

"I'm glad you decided to come with me, Azara." Fuzon said taking her hands as they stood on the ship towards Caldera City. Azara slipped her hands out of his.

"I'm not coming with you, I'm going to see what the Great Sage wants from me." She looked back at the shore. She could see the smoke blowing away. She closed her eyes and felt terrified that something had happened to Kaida but she knew Lue was there. Lue would never let anything happen to her. Her mind flashed to a moment of Akoto's face, she quickly shook it away. She didn't care about him. She didn't.

"Are you alright?" Fuzon asked.

"I'm fine." She walked away from him and back inside the ship where the Fire Sage Izan was looking over some scrolls. "So tell me what you know." She sat down across the table from him.

"What I know is that I'm to bring you to the Great Sage."

"I think you know a bit more than that." She folded her arms.

"I think you know a bit more, as well." He looked up at her with a smirk.

"I see. So what does he want with me? To use me?"

"Of course not, do you know why the Fire Sages exist?"

"To not answer questions when asked?" Azara said sarcastically.

"To serve." He answered. Azara didn't have a rebuttal for this. "I suggest you sit tight until we arrive in Caldera City." He stood up and walked away. Azara glared at him as he left the room. She sat back and let out a sigh. She couldn't sit still. She didn't like the feeling she was getting now that she was alone on a ship with the Fire Sage and his son. Something was wrong and she couldn't put her figure on what it was. The Great Sage obviously knew who she was but she didn't understand how he could know that. She was from a little town in no man's land. No one knew who she was...unless...

Her thoughts were cut off by a loud horn blowing from the ship and loud shouts coming from above. She hurried out on the deck to see what was going on.

"Azara!" Fuzon ran up to her. "Stay down." He pushed her back down into the ship.

"What's going on?"

"Pirates." He held her back.

"Pirates? Seriously?" She looked annoyed.

"Don't worry, we're going to outrun them. We just need to keep you hidden."

"Why?"

"We weren't the only ones looking for you apparently." Fuzon looked annoyed.

"What do you mean?"

"My father told me that the Great Sage sent out three groups to try to find you. The sages, those pirates, and the archers. The first one to do so wins."

"Wins what?"

"A lot of money."

"So I'm just a prize? That's it!" Azara fought out of his grasp and onto the deck.

"Azara! Stay down!" Izan shouted but she ignored him by throwing a fireball straight at him. Azara saw the pirate ship gaining on them. She looked for a good angle and then started climbing up to the crow's nest of the ship.

"What is she doing?" Fuzon ran to his father but Izan didn't answer. Azara stared down the oncoming ship. She saw several fireballs suddenly burst from the ship and shoot towards them. Azara spun and kicked a wave of fire back at them to block the fireballs.

"Oh." Fuzon rubbed the back of his head. "Well she is a trained bender." He shrugged to his father as they watched Azara bend as much fire as she could into a massive fireball in front of her. She took in a deep breath and kicked it with all her might towards the ship. She saw several pirates jump ship as the engorged flames struck the boat igniting it at once. She sat down in the crow's nest out of breath. She could hear Izan give out orders to continue on course. She let out another breath before standing up and looking down upon them.

"No more games, Sage." She shouted down to him. "I'm not going to be just a prize to anyone. As long as I'm on this ship you will respect and serve me, the Avatar." She gripped the side of the crow's nest. She jumped over the side and propelled herself down using the fire in her hands to land softly. "You don't want to test my power any further. Now what does the Great Sage want with me?" The crew stood speechless.

"As I said before, to serve." Izan kneeled down calmly in front of her and bowed. The rest of the crew followed suit. Azara wasn't happy though. This wasn't what she wanted but she do to do what she had to do. As soon as she found out about the Great Sage she was booking it back to her sister. Akoto's face flashed in her mind again but she shook it away. _Just__for__Kaida._ She thought.

***scene change***

"So, Azara's only going to see the Great Sage and will meet us at the Library?" Kyohei asked the great Black Dragon that sat in front of them. Kaida was nestled into his tail which wrapped around her while the others sat several feet away, afraid of the beast. Lue nodded his head.

"Ok, then we head to the Library." Kyohei stood up but no one else did. Everyone was tired and exhausted from the fight. The village was finally quiet now but it was destroyed. There was hardly any life left in it and the group had retreated to their old camp site. "Tomorrow then."

"Lue," Kaida called softly and the dragon turned his head to her. "Can we talk to Azara? Like how I can talk to you?"

"I'm afraid not." He nuzzled her.

"How can she do that? How did you get involved with Azara and Kaida anyways?" Yi-zhu asked.

"He saved our lives." Kaida smiled and rubbed Lue's nose. "Not at the same time though." This confused the group even more.

"How?" Miseon asked but Jeo-Hyung pulled her back.

"Miseon, it's rude to ask that."

"It's alright, I'll tell you." Kaida stood up and Lue let her out of his tail. "I can't tell you about Azara but I can tell you about me. Lue has been with Azara since I was born. I was really sick when I was a baby. I got really really sick and well," Kaida looked down. "I died." They all looked at each other in confusion. "Lue brought me back. He's a black dragon."

"What does that mean? What's the difference between a black dragon and a red or blue dragon?" Akoto asked.

"Black dragons are guardians of the spirit world. They can go back and forth between our world and theirs. There aren't many left." Kaida look saddened.

"Why?" Yi-zhu asked.

"They have big hearts and they love humans, but some humans think that by killing them they can get their power."

"Like many of our comrades, we are falling with the times changing. Humans have become greedy for power and instead of finding it within themselves, they are looking to outside sources." Lue explained. Akoto's mind had a flash of Azara's face. He felt uneasy and ill. He shook it off and continued to listen.

"So how did he save your life, exactly?" Kyohei asked.

"He gave me some of his." Kaida smiled up at him. "We're connected so I can talk to him anytime I want to."

"Can you go into the spirit world then, too?" Miseon asked.

"I don't know, I never tried." She looked up to Lue.

"She has no need to go there." He answered. The group sat in confusion at the answer which didn't answer anything.

"I suggest we all get some sleep before heading to the Library tomorrow." Yi-zhu broke the silence. "We should keep watch though in case of any attackers. I'll keep first watch." Yi-zhu soared up into a tree and sat keeping watch.

"He's right, we've got a long journey ahead of us. Let's all just go to bed." Jeo-Hyung said and picked up Miseon. As everyone began entering their tents, Kaida turned to Lue.

"Should we have told them about Azara?"

"No, Kaida, they don't need to know." Lue wrapped his tail around her like a bed for her to lay in.

Akoto, however, had heard them. He sat thinking about what that meant. What secret were they keeping about Azara? Something didn't feel right and that night Akoto couldn't sleep at all thinking about it.

**A/N:** Woo! I got this one up way faster than I thought I would! What are your thoughts on who's the first Avatar? What secret is Azara hiding? Let me know what you think in the reviews! Thanks! (On a total side note, there was an earthquake last night in my apartment. Scared the bejeezuhs out of me but everything's all good here. Nothing like what happened up north to Sendai and Fukushima)


	16. Chapter 15: The Great Sage

**Disclaimer: ** I own the characters, not the universe.

_Three days since the attack of the village..._

The Great Sage and eight other sages sat around a round table looking over a map. Many parts of the map were covered in dark circles.

"We've been lucky thus far, most of the activity has come from the Earth Kingdom with only a few attacks in our own lands. Word from the North Pole is there was an attack a week or so ago but the leech ran before it could be caught." One of the sages explained.

"What news from Izan?" The Great Sage asked.

"The last letter we received said that the girl was on the mend from a lightning strike." Another sage spoke.

"Lightning strike? She survived?"

"Surprisingly so."

"Izan theorized that she used bending to conduct the lightning through herself, however, was still in shock from the experience." Another sage explained.

"If it so then she will definitely be the Avatar as we hoped. How long until their arrival?" The Great Sage asked just as two loud knocks were heard on the door and a servant ran through and kneeled before them.

"My lords, Fire Sage Izan has arrived." They all immediately stood up as Izan and Azara walked through the door.

"Great Sage." Izan bowed and the Great Sage acknowledged him. "I bring you Azara, the Avatar Potential of the Fire Nation."

"At last." The Great Sage smiled as he examined Azara. "Welcome, Azara. I'm sure you would like some refreshments after your long journey." He signaled for a servant to bring in a tray a glasses.

"Actually, I'd like to get this done and over with if you don't mind. I have somewhere I need to be." Azara said rashly.

"Over with? My dear, this is merely the beginning. Please, have something to drink." He motioned for her to take a sip but Azara glared at him. He stared her down with a smile. "I assure you, all your questions will be answered. Just relax." Azara rolled her eyes and took the glass sipping it quickly. "Come with me." He offered his hand and Azara looked back at Izan who nodded his head. Azara took the Great Sage's hand and he led her down a fire-lit hallway.

"What about the other sages?"

"This conversation is between us." He said and put his hand on a wall where a small hole was. Fire burst from his hand and it triggered a wall to move and reveal an opening. He motioned for Azara to enter the secret hallway. Azara cautiously walked through and the Great Sage followed behind her. The hallway led to a golden chamber with old paintings of Lion Turtles and energybenders. They scrolled across the walls like a story.

"What is all this?"

"This is the story of origin. Well, the Avatar's origin that is."

"How can there be an origin story if there hasn't been an Avatar yet?"

"This is the story about how the Avatar legend came to be." He brought a flame to the wall to illuminate the Lion Turtles. "These are the great energy benders of old, they created the Avatar potential after the sacrifice for four." He showed her the four energy benders and then the new races of the world. "The time of the first death of a lion turtle would trigger the potential Avatars to begin to awaken." He showed a picture of the warrior who had slain the first Lion Turtle. "That was sixteen years ago and now you are here, sixteen years later, the firebending potential to be the Avatar."

"Yeah, yeah, I know this already." Azara folded her arms. "What is it you want with me?"

"We Sages exist because of this legend. We have been living in wait of the Avatar and now we brought you here to serve you, of course."

"That's great but we don't know if I'm actually the Avatar. I'm just the potential. There are other potentials, you know?"

"Yes, but we want to ensure it so that you become the Avatar."

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" She folded her arms.

"It's not how I will do it, it's how you will do it." He smirked and turned to her.

"And how will I do it?"

"In order to become the Avatar you must, according to the scrolls, you must master all four elements."

"Yeah, but what about those shadow guys/ How do we stop them?"

"It would be impossible to defeat them without becoming the Avatar."

"How much do you know about them?" She walked up to him.

"We know that they are growing stronger, whoever is controlling them is a mystery. At first we though they were airbenders because of their movements and lack of attacks to the nomads but airbenders can't move through shadows. We then thought they were angered spirits but they've seem to have taken a physical form in some accounts that we can touch. We are at a loss for what they are so for the time being we will focus on you becoming the Avatar."

"Alright, so who's going to teach me?" She relaxed.

"Teach you? No, that's not how this works." He turned to her. "We believe that it means you must kill the other potentials."

"What?" Azara's face turned white with shock.

"It's the only way to ensure that you will become the Avatar."

"But kill them? I can't...I won't! They are good people." Azara thought about the other benders she met. She didn't want to hurt them after they were protecting Kaida.

"I don't think you understand, Azara. This is an order from the Great Sage. If you don't, you will be betraying your country and your people." He stared her down. "It's not like you haven't killed before." Azara's eyes widened.

"How do you know about that?"

"How do you think we know who you are?" Azara's fist tightened.

"Where is he?"

"Long gone by now. After we confirmed his statements he was paid in full and sent on his way. Now Azara, now is not the time to waste on vendettas. We need to find the other potentials."

"To kill them? This is insane! I'm not killing them! I'm not going to be your puppet to Fire Nation glory!" Azara went to run but the door slammed shut. Azara stumbled back.

"I thought you might behave like this." Azara began to lose her balance.

"The tea!" She slurred.

"I'm quite impressed, your body was resisting it well." He smirked. "Unfortunately this is a little harder to resist." He held up a dart. Azara's eyes widened.

* * *

><p>Akoto jumped up from the ground where he had been sleeping. Everyone else was asleep except for Yi-zhu who was keeping watch up in a tree. Akoto looked to Lue and Kaida, he wanted to know what they were hiding. Akoto stood up and signaled to Yi-zhu who flew down to him.<p>

"You're early for your shift." Yi-zhu said.

"Couldn't sleep."

"I'll keep you company if you like." Yi-zhu sat down with Akoto. "You still dreaming about Azara?"

"Yeah." Akoto looked down. "I mean, I know she said she'd meet us at the Library but I have a bad feeling that she's in trouble."

"It's just the Sages. They're not bad people. They're spiritual leaders, just like the monks."

"I know, but something isn't right. It's like she's trapped."

"Are you sure this isn't because of your feelings for her?"

"What? No! No!" Akoto looked away.

"Look, it's clear to everyone that you have some kind of connection to her. You're the only one that dreams of her besides Miseon. That's gotta mean something."

"I know it's crazy but ever since I've dreamt of her I felt for her. Even if it's not love, I want to protect her. I could feel her pain through the dreams and when I met her it was obvious how angry she was."

"Like I said, you have a connection with her. What exactly that connection is...well that's for you two to figure out."

"It'd be easier to figure out if she was here." Akoto began climbing the tree.

"Don't worry, we'll see her soon at the library." Yi-zhu assured him when suddenly Lue let out a great roar that woke everyone.

"Lue! What's wrong?" Kaida jumped up. Lue was flailing and flying around in a circle as if he were in pain. "Lue!" Kaida shrieked. Kyohei quickly grabbed her out of the way of Lue's tail.

"What's wrong with him?" Jeo-Hyung asked as he guarded Miseon.

"Something's wrong with Azara." Miseon said. "I saw her, but she was different..."

"I knew it." Akoto went to leave. After a few moments Lue finally calmed down but his breathing was heavy.

"Lue? What happened?"

"Azara...something has changed...up until now she was alright but something inside her has altered drastically." Lue huffed. "She is cut off from us now."

"Is she dead?" Kyohei asked fearfully.

"No, she is alive, just changed." He panted now.

"We should go back for her." Akoto went to grab his things.

"No. We cannot go back for her." Lue said.

"Why not?" Akoto shouted at the black dragon.

"Because we have to get to the Library. We have to stop these creatures from hurting anyone else. One of us has to become the Avatar." Kyohei said.

"What? So you think that with Azara out of the picture it'll be easier for you to become the Avatar?"

"That's not what he meant." Yi-zhu stepped in. "We just have more important things to work on. Azara chose to go to the Great Sage. She's not hurt or in trouble, all Lue said was that she was changed."

"Why would it affect the dragon so much if she wasn't hurt? What's the deal with you two anyways?" He turned to Lue.

"Azara will come to us when it's time." He said calmly.

"That didn't answer my question! You're hiding something about her! What is it?" Akoto demanded.

"It is not your concern."

"It damn well is!"

"Akoto!" Jeo-Hyung shouted. "Focus on what's important." He clapped a hand on him. "We know you want to help Azara but she's going to have to take care of this on her own for a little. We are so close to the Library and she promised to meet us there. If she's not at the Library then we can go back but it's important for the safety of the world that we go there now. Think of why you're here." Akoto backed away. He sighed as he dropped his bag.

"Fine." Miseon ran up to him and tugged on his shirt.

"It's ok." She smiled. "She'll be there."

"Did you see it?" Miseon nodded her head. Akoto let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Miseon." He patted her on the head. As he walked away Miseon frowned. Kaida hurried to her.

"You didn't really see her, did you?" Kaida asked. Miseon shook her head.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok. Azara is really strong. She'll be ok. Besides, she has to come back for me." Kaida smiled. She looked over to Akoto who was the climbing the tree to keep watch.

"Kaida, can I talk to you?" Kyohei asked and pulled her away from the group.

"What's the matter?"

"I just want to ask you some questions. I know that your past is your past but is there something about Azara we should know?"

"Well," Kaida stuttered. "I don't know."

"It's ok if it's not something you're comfortable with but if it is important then we have to know." He looked at her straight in the eyes.

"Well Azara isn't what you think she is right now."

"What?" Kyohei asked in confusion.

"I can't tell you exactly, it's dangerous to say."

"Dangerous? Why?"

"It has to be a secret for now, I'm sorry." Kaida looked down.

"Hey, it's ok." He patted her.

"It's important to keep moving. Azara will come back to us." Kaida went to walk away.

"Wait, Kaida." Kyohei stopped her. "Are you sure there is nothing you can tell me about her?"

"What I can tell, is not something you want to hear." Kaida hurried back to Lue. Kyohei looked to the dragon who guarded Kaida.

"Let's get moving, since we're all awake anyways." Jeo-Hyung said and Yi-zhu hopped on top of Loba to ready their departure.

* * *

><p>Azara struggled to open her eyes. She felt dizzy as the room was a little fuzzy as she tried to focus.<p>

"Ah! She's awake, my lord!" A doctor called. The Great Sage hurried into the room to examine her.

"What happened?" Azara sat up.

"You've had a little accident, are you alright?" The Great Sage asked.

"What? Who are you? Who am I?" Azara rubbed her head. The Great Sage smiled with a malicious glint in his eyes.

"Sweetheart, it's me, your father."

**A/N:** Cue dramatic music! Sorry for the long wait! Busy times here! I'll try to get another chapter up soon! (Reviewing makes me work faster...btws. XD) Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


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